Worldwar: Discovering the Balance
by AlbertG
Summary: Fleetlord Atvar, supreme commander of 'The Race' arrived at Earth a few decades later than planned. But it shouldn't have mattered after all how much could Earth change in a mere 800 years, give or take?
1. Chapter 1

Title: **Worldwar: Discovering the Balance**

Author: **Albert Green Jr.**

PG- 13

Summary: The 'Race' has intentions of conquering Tosev Three otherwise known as Earth. They will conquer it and then colonize it. They believed that the conquest would be easy because after all Earth could never develop much in eight hundred years, Tosevites known as Humans could have never developed so quickly.

They were wrong. It was bad enough when they attack Earth and discovered a world war in progress in that other universe.

In this universe they came a bit later. It's enough to make the Race wish that they'd never heard of Tosev Three. On the other hand…

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**"**_**Stargate", "Stargate SG-1", and "Stargate: Atlantis" **_**and all related**_** Stargate **_** related material, its characters and certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the television shows and movies, may be or are registered trademarks of, and may be or are copyrighted by MGM and whatever Corporation it may or may not be owned by.**

'_**WorldWar'**_** and the '**_**Worldwar**__**related books'**_**, its characters, certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the book series, past present of near future, are a registered trademarks of its creator/author Harry Turtledove and the publisher Del Rey Books. Characters, names, and all related indicia are trademarks to those stated above.**

**Only certain characters and technologies are mine and these are the creation of the author who is solely responsible for them as such. Neither Studio nor Harry Turtledove nor Del Rey books are responsible for the content of this story.**

THIS STATEMENT MUST ACCOMPANY THE STORY '_WORLDWAR: DISCOVERING THE BALANCE'_. IF DISTRIBUTED. THIS STORY IS FREE OF CHARGE AND MAY NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM. THIS DEDICATION MUST ACCOMPANY ANY DISTRUBUTION OF THIS STORY.

Dedication: Bless my wife and the girls. They bug me enough to make me hide and write in the basement. The inspiration is glorious when you're cold (smile).

Thank you Harry Turtledove for writing such an intriguing series. I can not do it justice but I will merely try to make what I write interesting, with as few editing errors as I can.

_**Worldwar:**_

_**Discovering the Balance**_

_**Year 2001  
Sol system:**_

A huge starship, silent and deadly, scanned the one hundred-five sublight ships that slowly approached the star the Humans called Sol from the planet called Tau Ceti II. The ships, unaware that they were being observed continued on their journey towards conquest. Many of the crew members, who called themselves 'The Race', were still in cryogenic sleep, or cold sleep, as they called it. Only a few of the officers were awake so far, making final preparations of the conquest and subjugation of the planet they called Tosev Three. Soon though, thousands upon thousands of their lizard species would be awake and more than eager to strike at the heart of Earth.

The crew of the starship was bemused. If 'The Race' had left fifty to seventy years earlier, they might have had a chance. But now, all of their plans were about to run into, as the Humans would say, a brick wall. Interested in the historical implications, but unconcerned about the outcome, the ship continued its scans determining the species physiology, weaponry and technology. Satisfied, they left a small probe to monitor the situation as they engaged their hyperspace drives and disappeared into the vastness of space.

**Year 2007  
Sol system:**

**Invasion Fleet Banner ship  
The 127th Emperor Hetto **

The huge starships slowly passed the planet known to the Tosevites as Pluto. For twenty years, the ships of the Race had traveled close to the speed of light and now that they had entered the influence of the Tosev star, they were slowing down, decelerating. Their target was Tosev Three, the third planet from the star. Probes sent eight hundred resolutions earlier had shown the primitiveness of the dominant creatures inhabiting the planet.

The Race was an ancient species originating from the star system of Tau Ceti whose civilization could be traced back more than a hundred thousand of their years. They were an orderly species, short lizard-like creatures with extended, protruding eyes that swiveled independently of one another. As their species increased in numbers, they looked outward towards space. They discovered the species called the Rabotev of Epsilon Eridani 2, a primitive species barely into the Iron Age, twenty eight thousand revolutions ago. Using killer craft and land cruisers, that world was quickly overpowered and conquered. Halless I of the Epsilon Indi 1 system was conquered eighteen thousand years later. Now it was Tosev's turn.

The Fleetlord Atvar was a patient member of the Race and he was content that the Emperors analysts and the savant strategic specialists had performed their jobs with utmost care. Nothing was left to chance. They had even increased the number of nukes by an extra twelve percent, not that they'd need them of course. The primitives on the planet still rode hairy four-legged beasts, and used elongated pieces of hardened plant material to attack and kill each other. An armored land cruiser could remove hundreds if not thousands of such creatures without trying. It was conceivable that the Race wouldn't even lose a single soldier during the entire campaign. The fighting was expected to last no more than three months and then Atvar could begin to prepare the newly conquered world for incorporation into the Empire. In a mere three thousand years, the Tosevites could be civilized enough to be join the ranks of the Rabotevs and the Halless and become full citizens.

A ritual the Fleetlord adhered to for the past six weeks began again. The Race was consistent if nothing else. Change was their enemy, variability their foe. Events were calculated and every possibility in this endeavor taken into account. The lizards hated surprises and prepared accordingly. A small inconsistency with the killer craft's ability to effectively transition safely by sub-orbital pickup had delayed the fleet. The delay took only one hundred thirty two years as measured by the Race or sixty-six Tovesite revolutions around Tosev and the journey began. It was a small inconvenience, something that would not affect the overall plan.

"Let us examine at the new world that will become part of the Empire." A three dimensional image of Tosev Three appeared. The lizard walked around the image, he was followed by his second in command Shiplord Kirel. Atvar didn't trust Kirel as he didn't trust the rest of Shiplords who no doubted coveted his position, so Kirel was watched carefully as well as the others who coveted his position. However Kirel has so far been the model of respect so Atvar relented a bit. "It is a cold, wet egg that Tosev has hatched, but it will serve the Emperor well." At the mention of the Emperor all members of the Race lowered their eyes out of respect as was custom.

"It is a pity, indeed," Kirel said dutifully. The new world was chilly and in far too many places, water, something it had far too much of froze and fell from the sky. That was almost unheard of on the three worlds of the Empire outside of a laboratory. It was a truly alien world! But the Race was patient and would eventually turn it into a useful planet. "Perhaps we can shift the continental plates and create more land."

"That will be for future generations to contemplate," Atvar said. "But I agree. Now let us look once more upon the face of the enemy." Again another image appeared. One of the Tosevites appeared standing. It had feathers on top of its furry head and its face had small turfs of fur just above the eyes. Again it stood by one of the huge four-legged beasts they seem to be so fond of. In its hand was a spear and an axe possibly made of iron. It had covered itself with multiple layers of wrappings to protect itself from the harsh environment of Tosev Three. It carried a wooden shield of some sort to protect it from others of its kind that might attempt to harm it. The most revolting thing was that they exhibited no eyestalks. How could they see properly? "Hold that image," he ordered. "Let every one see the new face of the Empire."

"By the Emperor these creatures are ugly!" Kirel said, bowing their eyestalks in reverence. "They look violent."

"How well will these Tosevites stand up to missiles and bullets?" asked an amused Atvar.

All of the members of the Race laughed. This was no contest. It would be a slaughter. "They will come to serve the Emperor soon enough." Again all of them lowered their eyestalks.

Satisfied with the day's briefings, the Fleetlord prepared to return to his quarters when a young, terrified officer slowly entered the command center. This was not normal routine and the Race did not change patterns lightly.

"Speak, junior communications officer," growled Atvar. He didn't know the young one personally but his body paint identified his position. None of his species wore clothing, but they identified their status by elaborately painting themselves according to rank. Kirel's paint was slightly less decorative than the Fleetlord's.

"Exalted Fleetlord, kinsmale to the Emperor, as you know we move closer to Tosev three."

Atvar glared at the young officer with both eyestalks. "I have better know that," he said.

The young officer seemed ready to bolt at any given moment. "Exalted Fleetlord, I am subleader Erelwo in communications section. For the past few days I have detected radio transmissions coming fro the Tosev system. They seem to be artificial in nature." Subleader Erelwo froze for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "Tiny doppler shifts indicate that they come from Tosev Three."

"What?" Atvar yelled, causing the officer to hiss in fear. "Has your brain been rattled?" The Fleetlord had been too astonished to be angry. However now, the anger began to swell within him. "What you have told me is ridiculous," he growled again. "Do you presume to tell me that those animal riding savages have discovered electronics in a historical swivel of an eye turret that has required us tens of millennia to develop?"

"Exalted Fleetlord, I presume nothing," Erelwo screeched. "But there are more transmissions and they are directed at us."

"What? Get out!"

Erelwo bolted for the door, relieved to be away from his leader's fury. Slowly, Atvar headed for the communications console followed by a wary Kirel and two others. Still inside the Command center, all eye turrets followed him as he sat to review the data. Stunned he ordered the computer to activate the communication's receiver. A voice, an alien voice greeted him and its sound shocked him to the core.

"Hello, alien space ships, you are violating the sovereign territory of Earth. Please respond before I am forced to put large holes in your ships."

This – this thing spoke the language of the Race! The constant drone of transmissions from the other ships of the fleet had suddenly ceased. Atvar understood that all of them were waiting for his response. What could he say? This wasn't planned for and he had to now make up something and the Race had never been good at spontaneous innovation.

"Activate communications," Atvar ordered. "Alien creature, I am Fleetlord Atvar. How is it that you understand the language of the Race? Who is it that dares to threaten the Race?"

_"This is General Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri. We're using a communications language translation device. We should be in visual range of your ships in five…four…three…two…one… now."_

The flagship's radar hissed for attention as another ship, much smaller than their own flashed into existence, surprising every member of the Race. The ship flashed by the entire fleet and the swung around on the opposite side, flew to the front the fleet reversing its position as it did so to face the oncoming ships. It then reversed its speed relative to the fleet.

_"How about turning around and going back the way you came?"_ the leader of the unknown ship said.

That small demonstration was enough to terrify several Shiplords of the fleet and communications chatter increased significantly. Atvar meanwhile was too stunned to notice.

"Never! We have never heard of the Tau'ri," he said slurring the word. "We discovered this planet first! It will not allow you unknowns to upset the plans of the Race," he finished.

_"Fleetlord Atvar,"_ the Tau'ri said. _"I don't think so."  
_  
"Tosev Three is ours!"

"_Ah, no,"_ said the voice that for some reason Atvar instantly hated_. "It's ours and we're keeping it."  
_  
Atvar understood. The transmissions coming from Tosev Three originated from these Tau'ri. They must have started the colonization of Tosev and as such they represented a threat to the Race. Home was crowded. Over population was the main reason why the Race went to other worlds. They needed the space and the new resources. Competition was not something that the Race wanted or needed.

"General O'Neill of the Tau'ri, who are you?" General may have meant Fleetlord but he wasn't sure yet. "Where to you come from?"

_"We come from the Sol system,"_ replied the alien.

"Where is the Sol system in location to Tosev?"

_"If you mean Tosev as in the sun, we come from here."  
_  
Atvar had gotten so comfortable with speaking to the alien so quickly that this had to be some type of failure of the translation device they had to be using. "I want to understand what star system has hatched your Race?"

_"Daniel, please?"_

"What is a Daniel?"

_"Excuse me, Fleetlord Atvar,"_ answered another voice_. "The Tau'ri, us, originate from the planet you are heading for. It is called Earth."  
_  
"It is called Tosev Three."

_"It's called Earth," _the new alien insisted, _"or Terra, Sol Three, or the Homeworld of the Tau'ri."  
_  
"It is called Tosev Three. The Race named this system ten thousand years ago. That is the name of this world we are coming to claim."

_"We will not allow your fleet into Earth space."_

"Tosev Three," Atvar countered. "And you can not stop us. And when we arrive I shall prove it!"  
_  
"And what makes you think that we'll let you arrive there in one piece?"_

"We are strong. The Emperor has demanded this world and I will deliver it to the Empire."

_"Enough Daniel,"_ said the voice of the General. _"I am about to make an imaginary line that they bet not cross."  
_  
"The Tau'ri have launched a missile!"

"Emperor, save us!"

The Tau'ri fired a missile and the Fleetlord panicked. Death was coming. But the missile veered away from the Fleetlord's ship and instead moved in another direction so quickly that radar had trouble tracking it.

Then it detonated; a Tau'ri atomic detonation more powerful than anything the Race had ever seen. The shockwaves rocked every ship of the fleet. The EMP pulse damaged systems even through the re-enforced electronics of the Race. It required a few moments for the technicians to calculate the power of the blast. The blast had been three hundred megatons in power, more than enough to wreck the fleet with just one missile. They had nothing to counter it. No one of the Race had expected space combat would enter into the conquest plans.

Atvar stood mute, glaring at the communicator. He wanted to use his teeth and rip into the flesh of this Tau'ri creature. But they had proven that they were too strong for him at this time. The fleet was at their mercy. After an eternity he spoke slowly into the communication's device. "Tau'ri Fleetlord, what is it that you want?"

**Mars: or Tosev IV (depending on your point of View) **

Fleetlord Atvar's left eyestalk was beginning to hurt. No matter where he turned on the spacious bridge, that one eyestalk always pointed in the direction of the huge main monitor. That Tau'ri ship was there and its arrogant commander had forced the entire fleet to orbit Tosev IV or 'Mars as the creature called it. And there was nothing he could do about it. That one enemy ship could destroy his entire fleet, something they threatened to do if the Emperor's fleet didn't comply. The Race's ships weren't designed for space combat. No one had even imagined such a scenario could have possibly existed. The Tosevites have been conquered by another space-faring species with superior firepower. They were a threat to the Empire. Something had to be done about that. The Tau'ri had said that another of theirs ship would return soon and they would talk. Atvar hated being dictated to by an alien. And these Tau'ri could not discover the Home world of the Race.

Finally with some effort, he forced his eyestalk to turn with the rest of his body as he floated to the huge conference room where the other Shiplords waited. He as well as many members of the Race were used to the weightless environment and as such moving throughout the ship caused little difficulties for him. All one hundred five of them were there having shuttled in from their respective ships. The huge holographic interface dominated the center of the room. Smaller tables and chairs circled the interface. Many of the Shiplords were seated although a few of them were floating throughout the room about.

"Fleetlord, what have you decided?" asked Shiplord Kirel.

Atvar glared at Kirel and for a second he wondered if the male had formulated that question simply to embarrass him. But then, he decided that that Kirel was earnest. The Shiplords looked at him as if he could pull the answer from his tail stump and he truly wished he could, but he was at a loss. The alien ship had left them some time ago after its shiplord had ordered them to orbit the forth planet. And he had to obey or lose one of his vessels to the Tau'ri creature.

"I have sent a message to Home informing them of the situation we face."

"Good," Shiplord Straha announced. Immediately the Fleetlord knew his voice. The lizard was one of the more mature males. His vertical greenish stripes of his head feathers made him stand out. "They should answer in forty-four years. You should ask the Tau'ri creatures to wait for the Race's reply." Atvar didn't like this particular Shiplord whom he was sure had desired his position as Fleetlord. Unlike Kirel whom was somewhat trustworthy, Straha was not trustworthy in Atvar's mind and many of the other Shiplords looked towards him for leadership. "Other than calling Home, do you have any other plans to remove the Tau'ri from our planet?"

"I am still formulating a plan."

"The _56th Emperor Jossano_ has our main supply of nuclear weapons. We should show the Tau'ri that we too have the ability to make and use atomic weapons. If we show them that we are as powerful as they, then they will leave the planet before they risk war with the Race."

"Was your egg addled at birth?" asked Atvar. "If we destroy the planet, the colonization fleet will have nowhere to refuel and replenish for the journey home. We do not have any information on the origin of the aliens and how many of those," and pointed his claw towards the wall, "ships."

"We've only seen one of those ships," Straha said. "It is possible that their presence on Tosev Three is limited and their numbers are insufficient to contain the population and fight a battle. If we can detonate a series of EMP bursts over the planet, we will ruin their electronics and our soldiers can defeat them with minimal difficulty."

Atvar's voice was dry when he spoke. "We do not know what forces these Tau'ri have and how many there are on the Tosev Three. Do you wish to start a war for which we are not prepared?"

"At least I am attempting to find a solution to your inactivity!"

"Your attempt makes me glad that I am the Fleetlord instead of you!" the leader hissed.

"We should continue to Tosev Three and complete our subjugation of the planet!"

As the Shiplord spoke, Atvar grew more and more irritated. "I know my duties. But we need information before I can implement my plan."

"So you do have a plan?" asked Shiplords Hassov asked. He was one of the more politically moderate commanders who could be swayed if given the right argument..

"Yes," Atvar said sounding as confident as he could manage. "I am the Fleetlord. The first thing we will do is to talk to these Tau'ri and get information necessary for the conquest of Tosev Three.

**Two days later **

There was a flash and suddenly, the Race's radar picked up another vessel identical to the first. It was over three thousand kilometers distant but the rate that it closed towards the fleet was alarming. Relativistic speeds seem not to affect the ship as it banked like an atmospheric killer craft. All too quickly, the ship slowed until it was only fifty kilometers from the Fleetlord's ship.

"Fleetlord, the Tau'ri are communicating with us. They are ready to come onboard."

"Tell them they may proceed," he said. '_This was a good thing'_, he thought. Atvar would have better control of the direction of the conversation. The power of the Race would dominate over these Tau'ri allowing the Fleetlord to demand information that could help the Race.

"The Tau'ri are coming now," subleader Erelwo announced quickly.

"Direct their shuttle to the docking bay as far away from the bridge as possible. Have our soldiers escort them here."

"It shall be done."

"I want them to see the magnificence of the Race and allow them to be awed – by…BY THE EMPEROR!!"

There was a sudden light bright enough to burn his eyes and then – and then – and then… There were Tau'ri on the bridge! Not holograms, but real aliens! They were big. They were ugly!

"Howdy there, lizard people," the General said into a hand-held device which automatically translated his words into Race standard. Surprised one of the lizards took a device that was handed to him and listened amazed that the device translated the language so easily into something he had no trouble understanding.

"Jack," Daniel hissed. "They're already scared enough."

"Just trying to be friendly," the General protested. "It's the first time I've talked to short lizard-like, ah, things before." He looked around the ship and the startled creatures in front of him. They seemed ready to flee any way they could. "Is it me or is it hot in here?"

"What trickery is this, Fleetlord?" Kirel demanded. "What form of travel did they use to get here?" he asked no one in particular. He was still examining the translation device. It was very advanced technology and the implications were enormous. But he didn't dwell on that for long. There were far more important things to consider such as: "They are Tosevites!"

"Ah, we're Humans," clarified Daniel.

"Tosevites!"

"Tau'ri," huffed Teal'c.

"Tosevites!"

"Terrans," said colonel Carter.

"Tosevites!"

"No," O'Neill growled. "We're the ones with the big honkin' guns pointed at your oversized ships."

"What deceit is this?" the Fleetlord demanded. "Tosevites do not have the capability of spaceflight. They can not construct radio communications equipment. Tosevites are at an agricultural level of development. Our probes have confirmed this. How did you get here!?"

"Excuse me, Fleetlord, when did you send your probes?"

"Sixteen hundred years," Kirel jumped in answering for the Fleetlord. "Eight hundred in Tosev revolutions."

"Tosevites could have never developed so quickly. It is impossible," Atvar said with absolute conviction. Several soldiers of the Race entered the bridge stunned by the sight of aliens already there. "If you are Tosevites then you must have obtained help from an outside source," Atvar reasoned. As soon as the soldiers arrived he suppressed a hiss of relief.

"Yes," Straha managed to add. He and several other shiplords entered the spacious bridge. None of them could believe what was being told to them. They had to see it for themselves. Security was non existent on the vessel as no one ever imagined it would be needed before the fleet arrived at Tosev. "This is a deceit. What is the name of the Race that has subverted the Tosevites. We demand to speak to them. We demand that they return our property."

After O'Neill stopped laughing: "Sixteen hundred years?"

"Eight hundred of our years, Sir," Carter answered. "He does have a point," she continued. "Many of the planets we've visited have societies that haven't developed past the agricultural level. In many cases, the Goa'uld have perpetuated those conditions, but we've seen many cases where technological development at a much slower pace than Earth. We had no interference in our development. Many other worlds can't say the same."

Straha and the others looked at her, surprised that this creature could or would even agree with them. But what the creature had said had surprised them even more. "You claim to have been to other worlds?"

"Yes, quite a few actually."

"How long have you been traveling to other planets?" Kirel asked.

"About eight years or so."

"You speak untruths!" Atvar answered. "I demand to speak to the conquerors of Tosev Three!"

O'Neill shook his head. "We don't have any masters, Fleetlord. We do have hyperspace travel, which means we can travel faster than light, a lot faster. And we can see where we're going, too. Let me tell you a story. Actually I'm going to let Daniel here, our resident storyteller tell you a story. I want you to listen to him carefully because I am not going to force him to repeat it. Daniel, you're on."

"Five thousand years ago, ten thousand using your years, Earth was visited by an alien species called the Goa'uld…"

"Stop it!" Atvar hissed. "General O'Neill, your lies will not save Tosev from taking its rightful place in the Empire. You big ugly creatures will adjust to serve the Race and the thieves that have stolen Tosev Three will reveal themselves to us, return our world, or there will be war."

Astonished by the statements, the other Shiplords looked at Atvar. Straha seem to approve of the stance but he was one of only a few of the Shiplords gathered that appeared confident of Atvar's apparent threat.

General O'Neill sighed and moved towards the Fleetlord. It was just a single step forward but the leader of the Race jumped back as if stung and immediately several armed lizards pointed their small but impressive looking weapons at the human group.

"You will remain where you are," Atvar hissed. "If you make any threatening move my protectors will shoot you. Now, you will surrender your ship to the Race and we will determine the truth of these matters. Contact your ship and inform them of your status. Any deception and you will be killed."

Straha and the others looked on with approval at the action.

In front of them one of the Race's soldiers asked another very quietly, "what are they?"

"Giant, savage, ugly-looking aliens from Tosev Three," he responded.

"How did they get here?"

"How would I know that? I got here at the same time as you."

"Truth."

"You will surrender yourself to the Race," the Fleetlord demanded.

"No," O'Neill said.

"Then I will give the order to shoot you," Atvar responded after a moment's hesitation. He didn't expect the O'Neill creature to say no. He should have surrendered. Why hadn't he surrendered?"

"If you shoot us," O'Neill said, "then our ships will wipe out your fleet and for good measure the colonization fleet you have coming here in about 20 years." There was coldness in the alien's voice that Atvar could not fail to miss. "Then Earth will be…"

"Unhappy?" supplied Daniel.

"Yes; what Daniel said. Unhappy and they might go to Home and, I don't know, maybe blow up a few of your cities?"

"But you will not be alive to see it," Atvar countered. This was not going the way he envisioned. They should have immediately capitulated when faced with such threats. The history books concerning political diplomacy had said that would be the reaction. Of course the situation now was not quite the same but still the application of such threats should have produced the desired outcome. And how did they know about the colonization fleet?

"This is why Star trek: the next generation does not allow their commanders to initiate first contact," Teal'c said.

"Tell me about it," muttered O'Neill. "And I am trying to be nice."

"Your vessels may arrive at Home only to face our defenses and they will not survive," Atvar continued, not liking being ignored. "Already we have sent messages to Home. By the time your ships come Home will be ready."

"Oh, please. You're sending messages at light speed. Our ships can make it to your world in a matter of hours, if we take our time. Home will never see us coming until it is too late."

"You are lying. Will you contact your ships and tell them to surrender to the Race or will I give the order to have you shot?"

O'Neill nodded his head. "I will contact my ships."

"That is a wise thing that you do."

_"Odyssey_, this is General O'Neill.

_"This is Odyssey. Sir, are you okay?"_

"Yes, we are okay but if I don't contact you in five minutes, then that means that the Fleetlord has decided to shoot us. If that happens please nuke every ship out here."

"_Understood, Sir. Shall we transport you out?"  
_  
"Negative, I want this soup to boil a bit longer."

_"Understood, Odyssey out."_

"What have you done!?" Atvar hissed, adding his to most of the other Shiplords. "You said you would surrender!"

"No. I said I would call my ship," O'Neill corrected. "If anything happens to us your oversized ships will be turned into scrap. You can try to fight back, but we've fought against a lot more dangerous than these. So, Fleetlord Atvar, what do you plan to do?"

Atvar froze, not knowing what to do. He could feel the eyestalks of dozens of his Shiplords staring at him waiting for a decision. The Tosevites could be lying, but he wasn't sure. They had incredible nukes but would they use them? It would be impossible to destroy the colonization fleet before they slowed down from the significant fraction of light they were traveling at, wasn't it? Ships moving that fast was impossible, wasn't it? This was too much pressure for him. The Race took long, measures steps and did nothing in rash manners. The Race was not known for coming to and acting on those decisions quickly. Actions needed to be studied carefully in order to access their full potential. But now he was in completely unfamiliar territory. Thinking quickly and then acting just as quickly had never been part of his training. Right now, he didn't have the time. But he had to make a decision quickly.

He didn't know what to do.

Oh, how did things come to this?

"I will not order my soldiers to shoot you, General O'Neill," Atvar hissed through the translation device. "And in return I ask you not to attack my ships." There, he said it. He hated to say it but he did for the sake of the defenseless military fleet under his command. "You Tau'ri are a threat to the Race. You compete with us and there can be no peace because of what you have done. Know that you have made an enemy of the Race and we never forget."

The General straightened up and glared at the Fleetlord. The Fleetlord in return recognized the gesture as a threat and nearly backed away frightened by the display of aggression by the big, ugly Tosevite. However by some miracle of will he stopped himself from moving.

"Fleetlord Atvar, before you start a war you do not have a chance of winning, consider your position. If by some miracle you survive and get past our ships without being blown back Home, let's suppose you make it to Earth…"

"Tosev Three."

"My Home world," O'Neill said. "You'll have about five thousand missiles waiting to blow you out of orbit and that's just my people. There are a whole lot of countries that are even more hostile than we are and they will not take kindly to a bunch of lizards trying to take over their territory. If you try to nuke us, it'll just make us mad and we'll turn your ENTIRE PLANET into pieces not much bigger than your tail. We will turn your people into nothing more than a memory. You've seen our nukes," he said. "What do you think will happen when we start using big ones?" He let that sink in for a few seconds. "Or," he suggested, "we could talk first and try to defuse the situation."

"I want to hear what you have to say to us," Shiplord Straha said.

Atvar was furious for him daring to interfere but it would give him some time to think. These Tau'ri had shown their power and he wasn't sure if the one called O'Neill was telling, or would tell the truth. So he decided to change tactics a little to learn more about these creatures. "I do not understand your term 'my people'. How many kinds of people are on Tosev Three."

"Earth."

Tosev Three," Atvar insisted.

"You are not going to let that go, are you?"

"No," he hissed, "and you did not answer my question. How many different kinds of Tau'ri are there?"

"Just one…Daniel, please answer Atvar, because if he calls a Tosevite one more time…"

"There is only one type of intelligent species on Earth or as you call Tosev Three."

"Daniel!"

"Sorry Jack, just trying to get my point across. Fleetlord Atvar, there are different governments but only one species on our planet."

"I do not understand the term 'different countries'. Who is your Emperor and when can I speak with him?"

"We ah, don't have an Emperor. We have a president who is elected to office for a period of time. The Earth is not unified under one leader."

"No Emperor? There is no united government? Then how can your society survive? And what is a President?"

"The President is the elected leader of our people."

"Elected?" That word had to be bounced over a few times before the concept took. "You count snouts in order to choose your leaders of your…your not-Empire? You Big Uglies are truly mad!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**Part two of Four**_

_**Earth –Sol System**_

_**White House**_

It was days like these that made President Hayes wonder why he ever even contemplated running for office. The ambassadors of China, Russia, England and France were waiting for him to explain this latest mess.

Mr. President," began the United Kingdoms ambassador Alexander Murray. "I am struggling to understand this. You are telling us that there is a fleet of little green men from Mars…"

"They're small, very intelligent lizards," Hayes corrected. "Most of them are green, but they have browns and a few mixed colors as well. And some have several feathers on top of their heads. And they're not from Mars; they're just orbiting Mars right now."

"Excuse me, orbiting Mars, an invasion fleet to be exact and we haven't blown them out of space yet?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you. The Russians tracked them for the last few months before we made contact with them. We've known about them via the Asgard for the last five years. We were aware of the instant the ships started to decelerate. Their ships are sublight, nothing remotely close to what we have"

"And you're just warning us now?" Chairman Huang half snarled. "I do not understand this hesitation."

"At their current speed, it would have taken them another nine months to make it to Earth. The _Odyssey_ forced them into orbit around Mars where we've began talks with them. I chose not to start a shooting war with them. We have enough problems as it is with the new System Lords."

"China appreciates your concern but I am frankly somewhat suspicious of your motives. The Goa'uld threat is increasing once more. .If these aliens are coming here as the report suggests then the people of the Earth should remove the threat. We do not need another enemy at our backs."

"And there's the Colonial problem," the President added and with that pronouncement all of the ambassadors started grumbling.

That was a First Contact that should not have occurred. Those people had just finished a second war with some Race called the Cylons when the _Prometheus_ encountered them in their territory. The Colonials successfully fought off a sneak attack by those Cylons two years earlier and were feeling their oats. Upon hearing Daniel's expositions concerning Earth, the Colonials got the impression that Earth was some fabled thirteenth colony of theirs. During that 'misunderstanding' the_Prometheus_ got away from those fuming nutcases however they knew where Earth was. What the Colonials didn't know was that Terran probes were carefully monitoring everything on their colony worlds and the reports they sent back did not look promising. Their chief scientist, some man named Gaius Baltar the savior of the colonies as he was touted to be, and mouthpiece of their President, insisted that the Humans of Earth were under the rule of a 'secret cabal' called the Tau'ri. The Colonial President, Richard Adar was spouting a lot of rhetoric about bringing Earth into the fold.

Every country of the IOA was pissed. If the Colonials tried something, they were in for a very major and very unpleasant surprise. All of that Asgard technology would come in handy if they tried anything which by all accounts seemed to be their intention.

"But that is for the future," the President said. "Right now I would like to cultivate a few allies rather than make more enemies. To do that we must understand the Race."

"That predisposes that we understand why they have come to Earth in the first place."

"Exactly. The reasons are probably the usual things, overpopulation, the need to spread out and grow, needed resources, etc. They've been looking at our world for a long time. More than eight hundred years ago they sent a probe here."

"I do not understand," the French ambassador said. "Why didn't they invade then?"

"They thought they had the time," Hayes answered. "To them eight hundred years, sixteen hundred in their years, was not enough time for the people of Earth to advance much. Back then they saw the crusaders running around and they believed humanity would not advance more than that."

The Chinese ambassador laughed coldly. "Came as a shock to them, didn't it? But I am glad that they decided to wait. If they had attacked us as late as twenty years ago, before we discovered the stargate, the war would have been a bloodbath."

"Yes, it would have," the Russian Ambassador admitted. "From these reports the Race would used nuclear weapons on our people, without concern for the lives lost or the damage done. And we would have been forced to respond accordingly."

"I have to agree," Hayes said. "It would have expanded to all out war and death on an unimaginable scale. They would not have won but neither would we. We have the edge now, and we could wipe them out. But I am hoping for a political solution rather than a military one."

"What if the political solution fails?"

"Then they will either be convinced to turn around and go home, or we will be forced to wipe out their fleet," Hayes answered.

"China agrees."

"As does England, God helps us."

"I am sending ambassador Roberts to speak to them. He's being briefed now by Mr. Jackson and General O'Neill. He is being instructed to do what he can to avert war with the Race. I hope that he succeeds for all of our sakes."

_**Race Command ship**_

_**127th Emperor Hetto**_

_**Orbiting Mars**_

"This is intolerable," Shiplord Horrep cautiously stated while trying to add as much indignation as he could without actually raising the ire of the Fleetlord any more than it already was. "Straha is correct. We must show strength toward these Tau'ri."

"Tosevites," Fleetlord Atvar corrected. "Do not force me to remind you again that they are called Tosevites."

"I am corrected, exalted Fleetlord."

"Yes, you are." Atvar did his best now to ignore a chastened Horrep, no need to make an enemy of him now. He knew inside his liver that Shiplord Straha had instigated that little maneuver to lower Atvar's status and raise his. The Shiplord was trying to gain power and influence. "The Tovesites are bringing a representative who speaks for their not-Emperor. Not-Emperor, such a bizarre word."

The Tosevites had no Emperor as the Race understood the term and that was extremely perplexing. There wasn't enough data for the Race to understand how this insane form of Tosevite government functioned without collapsing upon itself in confusion. What little Daniel Jackson said had made no sense at all. How could such a society exist without destroying itself and more importantly how could they – if what they said was truth and the Tosevites were indeed the Tau'ri – have developed so fast? Those were questions that he needed to discover and quickly. Straha was pushing to continue towards Tosev Three despite everything they'd seen and heard. The events demanded that they be studied and for Straha to attempt to force the decision without adequately studying the problem was the worse thing that any member of the Race could be accused of.

Impatience – the bane of the Race. It was the very thing that he was proving to be at this very moment.

"What if the Emperor," and Straha lowered his head as was tradition, "discovered that the Exalted Fleetlord choose not to lead the invasion fleet to victory?"

The other Shiplords discreetly moved away from Straha, all except Kirel. "The Big Uglies are dangerous," he said. The derogatory name 'Big Ugly' had caught on, appealing to many of the members of the fleet. "The fleet could be lost if we proceed down the wrong path."

"I do not see us proceeding down any path,' Straha countered. "I do see that Fleetlord Atvar is afraid of these Tau'ri."

"You are wrong, Shiplord," pressed Kirel. "He is thinking with his brain. You are thinking with your tail stump up your…"

Straha cut him off. He didn't like Kirel, who was one who seemed far too eager to please the Fleetlord, seeing that as a way to power. "We have not seen more than two of their ships. They can not defeat us all. Truth, they have shown us that they are strong and dangerous. We must do the same. Once at Tosev Three we will strike at the heart of these Tau'ri and prepare for the colonization fleet."

"I have heard enough!" Atvar yelled. "By the Emperor, you are all thinking like young ones. I will tell you what we are to do."

"Finally," Horrep muttered.

"These Tau'ri control Tosev Three at this time. But I do not wish a war with them at the same time that we must pacify the native Tovesites. The Tovesites that we have thus seen have been trained in the use of spacecraft and science. That speaks well for their species. They are easily trainable," Atvar continued. "The Race will not be required to use valuable resources in educating them."

"We should not have to worry about training them at all," Straha countered. "They should not have spacecraft. They should not have electronics and communications. They should not have nuclear weapons able to kill ships of the Race. But they do. And this means that their pacification will take longer than planned, perhaps as long as five Tovesite years!"

Despite his dislike for Straha, the Shiplord was right. The Tovesites should not even be aware of electricity yet. "You bring up a cogent point, Shiplord," he admitted. "All of this could be a deception by the Tau'ri to frighten us away. I will order a probe to be sent to Tosev Three so that we may evaluate the truth of the current nature of the planet. I begin to suspect that there has been no real change from our earlier records. This may be a situation created by the Tau'ri to misdirect our actions so that they may solidify their illegal claims to this planet."

Now it was Straha's turn to admit agreement with his political adversary. "I see truth in your suspicions. Therefore what do your propose, Fleetlord?"

"They have an ambassador who represents their President, or Not-Emperor. We of the Race are unfamiliar with the concept of discussing our agreements with lesser beings, but I find it necessary to do so, as it will help us obtain more information on these thieves. I have ordered the ancient text to be opened and studied. During our conquest of the Rabotevs and the Halless we used ambassadors and the almost forgotten science of diplomacy to achieve what we wanted. The ancient text strongly suggests that if we bribe the Tovesites of this faction, then they will help us overcome the other factions on Tosev Three. And then we will control them. When we meet the Tau'ri, I will speak to them from a position of strength. I will show them our probes and documents of the Emperor," and he lowered his eye stalks once more in respect, "proclaiming the planet as legally ours. It will be beyond dispute."

Straha did the unthinkable. He laughed in the Fleetlord's face.

"I admit your first idea is useful. But the second is less than useful. When they claim that our documents are not worth the process it took to create them, then what?"

Atvar fumed. "Then I will order you and your ship to proceed to Tosev Three and conquer it. If you survive, then I will resign my commission and present it to you. If you are turned into small irradiated fragments, then we both will know that you were in error. May it be so!"

Frightened, Straha lowered his eyes in respect. "Yes, Fleetlord."

He quickly left the room, not seeing the relieved look from Atvar.

_**Odyssey **_

Ambassador Roberts smiled as she shook hands with Colonel Carter. He hadn't seen her since the Aschen incident where they both almost lost their lives.

"Colonel Carter, it's wonderful to see you again," he said. "And congratulations on your promotion."

"Thank you, Ambassador. It's great to see you again."

"I see you have some more work for me."

"Yes, Sir," she said. "We'll take better care of you this time, I promise."

He smiled. The tall, grey-haired man followed her to the briefing room trying not to stare at the inner workings of the ship too much. The starship was impressive, but nothing compared to the stargate. Going through that wondrous device was the great highlight of his life. Getting home alive was even greater.

Sitting down he quickly acknowledged the others sitting. But he wanted to start as soon as possible. "I've read the briefing on these people but I want to get your personal impressions and feelings about them before I meet with them."

"Well, when you arrive on their ship, you should know that they like it warm," the General started. "I mean warm as in hot. It had to be almost one hundred and fifteen degrees on their bridge and probably everywhere else. The ships don't have gravity so don't be surprised if you see lizard bodies floating all over the place. I can say that they look like a cross between an iguana and a raptor, taller than the iguana but shorter than a raptor. I guess that means they have a somewhat bad attitude when it comes to anyone not lizard-like," he blandly added.

"Thank you General for that description," Roberts said dryly. "With respect I was thinking more on terms of their political structure."

"Did I add that they're all naked? They wear paint instead of clothes. The more elaborate the paint, the more status they have and it serves to identify them, which I might add, is a good thing since they all look like lizards. They're all male so I guess it doesn't matter if they're naked or not. And they're short, like Prince, but they don't sing, they hiss. Well maybe they do sing, but not like Prince."

The ambassador sighed. "General, you know as well as I do that these attempts to hide your near genius status is falling on deaf ears. I understand why you do it, but it's not helping this situation. We're trying to avoid a war and I need your wisdom and your input, not this façade that you insist on playing. Drive your enemies as crazy as you want, but don't pretend with me. It makes my job harder and it puts the fulfillment of this mission in jeopardy."

General Jack O'Neill glared at the man. Few people had ever spoken to him like this. But he hadn't done out of anger or with malicious intent. But he had called him out, something no one had done before except for his wife. Duly chastened, he finally agreed, not that it would stop him from tormenting anyone else.

"The members of the Race are completely convinced that their way of life is the only way," O'Neill said. His attitude had changed completely surprising them all. And that made him smirk. "They've conquered two other planets, destroyed their culture and replaced it with theirs. That's all in the report, but it doesn't describe what you will really see once you get there."

"And that would be?"

"They're scared. Scared enough to start a war they can't win because they can't think of anything else to do."

"I believe the General is right," Daniel added. "This experience is something entirely beyond anything they've seen in their tens of thousands of years of civilization."

The Ambassador thought about that for a second. "So if we say the wrong thing, it may well push them into a war they can't win. And if we don't push them, they'll continue this attempt to take over our planet and they will lose. Interesting situation."

Teal'c nodded. "Agreed. The Race will continue to attempt to conquer Earth until they are convinced otherwise. Force may be a temporary deterrent; however it appears to be their nature to continue trying until they succeed. They are a patient and stubborn people. And now they have reason to fear us."

"Yes, it's in the reports. They don't change much from one century to the next. To them we're like a cancer that needs to be controlled or stamped out. But what I don't understand is why didn't Ra subjugate them?" Roberts asked. "They're literally next door to us."

I thought a lot about that," Daniel said. "I suspect there were two reasons. One, In Ra's search for a suitable host, and found and chose us. I remember he told me, before we nuked him, he'd chosen us because our bodies were so easily repairable. I think he saw in us a flexibility that the Race doesn't have. Of course, he went out of his way to make sure we never changed into something that he couldn't control but that's beside the point. The second thing is that the inflexibility of the Race may have assured Ra that they weren't going to be a threat to his power base which is kind of ironic if you think about it because they were exactly what he tried to force us to be."

"So he ignored them?"

"Yes. And the Halless and Rabotevs weren't suitable either. So he ignored them. The other System Lords wouldn't dare to invade his territory. So when Ra left, Earth and the local worlds were ignored and forgotten. Well," corrected Daniel, "at least the other worlds were."

"Interesting theory," Colonel Carter said. "I would guess that those planets didn't have anything Ra wanted and they mostly likely don't have a stargate there. That's understandable since Ra wouldn't want one near Earth."

"Those planets could have been used as a staging area for his enemies," Teal'c said.

"Not to mention they're really too close. Hyperspace will get you there in a few minutes."

"But '_fear'_ is the operating word here."

"Yes."

"Thank you. This helps me formulate an approach."

_**127th Emperor Hetto**_

"Fleetlord," said subleader Erelwo. The male was still fearful of speaking to the Fleetlord. Every time he was required to announce some Big Ugly incidence, the Fleetlord would caste his eye turrets menacingly at him as if it were his fault the creatures could use a radio in the first place. He could not help it if he only delivered bad news. "We receive communications from the Tau'ri ship _Odyssey_." This time was no different. He could feel the eye turrets burning into him even now.

"Tell the Tosevites we are ready to receive them," Atvar ordered. "Demand that they use a shuttle to arrive at our ship this time."

"Yes, Fleetlord…they have responded in the negative," subleader Erelwo said with even more fear now. "They demand to use the transportation device once more. They say that since we are in their territory and under their control, they can use whatever they want to reach our ship."

The glare against Erelwo was back at full force. "Tell these…these creatures that this is the Emperor's ship. They have no right to demand anything."

"The Tosevites insist. They say we have no choice and that we are disrespecting a superior power. If they can not use their device then they will force our ships to land on Mars, by that they mean Tosev IV."

"I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"

"Forgive me, Fleetlord. They also say that if we refuse, then the invasion fleet will be invaded by nuclear weapons."

"MAY ALL OF THEIR EGGS BE ADDLED FOREVER!" cursed Straha. It was a horrible insult and several of the Shiplords hissed in agreement.

"These creatures were too arrogant for their own good," Atavar muttered. But he had little doubt that the aliens were speaking the truth about the nuclear weapons.

And the truth was that their teleportation device was the most frightening thing he'd ever seen. The potential to wreak havoc all over the entire fleet was almost unthinkable. His scientists said that such a thing could not be done, yet the impossible had been done right before his eye turrets. The scientists were not as smart as they believed themselves to be. Scientific theories and beliefs of the Race understood for tens of thousand years were being thrown in the trash heap at alarming rates.

"Very well, tell the ambassador that they may use their device to arrive at the same area where they landed before. If they arrive anywhere else then I will consider this an act of war and my soldiers will be given orders to shoot."

"They say this is acceptable. They will be here in moments."

"The Big Uglies move entirely too fast," muttered Straha. "Or is it we who are not moving fast enough?"

Atvar ignored him. He wanted to see the Tosevites once more appear from the ether. It didn't take long for five of the Tosevites to arrive in flashes of light. The one called Daniel Jackson with the strange eye enhancements and brownish fur top of his head was recognizable. The dark-skin giant Tovesite was recognizable. Atvar had trouble distinguishing between the other three creatures. Only the clothing differed and the blond haired Carter, who was a female of their species-how could the Tosevites tell males from their females; they looked so much alike-and the General O'Neill could be distinguished only by their hair and height. The third unknown by deduction had to be the ambassador of their not-emperor or President. The unknown male lowered his head in respect and Atvar copied the action.

"Greetings Fleetlord Atvar of the Race," he said, allowing the amazing translator to do its work. I am Ambassador Robets representing the planet Earth. And these you already know from their previous visits."

"And I greet you in return, Ambassador Roberts. I will take your word that these are the same Tosevites I have met. I cannot tell. You all look alike and it is hard for me to distinguish one from another. Even your females look similar to your males."

"Well, Colonel, have we just been insulted?" asked O'Neill softly.

"I'm not sure yet," confessed Carter. 'They may not know the anatomical difference between the males and females of our species."

"If necessary, we can take all of our clothes off, slap some paint on, run around the bridge."

"I don't think so, Sir."

"Nah," he whispered. "President Hayes would blow a vein."

"Yes, Sir."

"You have no sense of humor, Colonel."

"No Sir, not when it comes to painting myself."

"Duly noted."

"Thank you, Sir."

A minute after he'd arrived on the Race's flagship, the sweating had begun. It was hot, hotter than he had anticipated and he was slightly disoriented by floating lizards turning lazy summersaults throughout the bridge. The chair he was sitting in across from Atvar was designed for members of the Race and not Humans. He kept slipping into the hole present in the seat that allowed the sentient lizards to comfortably place their tails through. And the seats were small. They had seatbelts but none were large enough to wrap around his frame.

Fleetlord Atvar, the President of the United States of America and the representatives of the countries of Earth have ordered me to see if it is possible that we can co-exist with one another without resorting to armed conflict."

"Your President and the representatives of your world are wise," Atvar responded. "What are your terms for submitting to the Race?"

"Excuse me, Earth will not submit to the Race. That is not the purpose of this meeting."

"Correct me if I am in error," Atvar said. "You have come to this vessel discuss co-existence without resorting to armed conflict. If your masters the Tau'ri believe this to be true, then you are here to negotiate a surrender of Tosev Three to the Race."

"Fleetlord Atvar, I am not here to discuss surrender of our world to the Race," Roberts answered. "I have come here in order to avoid the unnecessary deaths of your invasion fleet. But before we discuss the details there are things that must be clarified in order for you to understand the precarious position that you are faced with. The planet Earth is home to over six billion Human beings who will not allow a colonization fleet from another world to set their, uh, claws on the surface of our planet. We are a people of many different beliefs and ideas and governments but we are united in this one position."

"You say that there are many not-empires on Tosev Three that are in competition with each other because of superstitions and ideas that are not accepted by the different groupings. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Continue."

"The name Tau'ri was given to us by another alien race. Many of the other worlds know us as the Tau'ri. But we know ourselves as Humans or Terrans."

"You say that other worlds know the Tosevites as the Tau'ri. Daniel Jackson has said that you have visited other worlds. He has also told us that you have been in space less than twenty years or ten Tosev Three revolutions of the star Tosev. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"How many other worlds have you visited?"

"As many as forty different worlds, perhaps more."

Atvar's lower jaw opened and he began to hiss, his version of laughter. Other males joined in. "Ambassador, you lie like the _Kucceint_ plant hugs the sands of Home. You are trying to deceive me in order to strengthen your position. At first I believed that there was a grain of truth in what you said. I believe that there '_is'_ a grain of truth in what you say concerning Tosev Three and their political structure. But you over extend yourself in saying that you have visited so many worlds in so short a time. It is impossible to do so, therefore you lie."

"Do I lie about the enhanced nuclear weapons pointed at your ships?"

"Maybe that is a deception as well," Atvar countered. He was bluffing now but it could have been a possibility. This was also was not the direction he wished the talks to head at this time. "Are there other intelligent species on these other worlds?" he asked changing the subject. "How would you describe them?"

"Many of the worlds are Human-based who have…"

But the ambassador didn't get any further. Atvar had began hissing again and this time he was joined by several other high-ranking members of the Race.

"Ambassador, the Race looks like the Race, the Halless and Rabotevs look like their respective species. But you now tell me that you traveled to many worlds and the species there all look like Tosevites. I begin to believe that your not-Emperor – President was addled when he chose you to speak to us. But your attempt at deception is most stimulating." Atvar continued laughing. "Understand that after this, anything you say is suspect."

Robert's was not amused at being called a liar. The temperature was stifling inside the ship and that was not helping the situation. Sweat was pouring from his forehead as it did for all of the Humans. The lack of gravity was taking it toll on him. He tried his best to ignore it. It was time to change the direction of the talks. "Fleetlord, it is true that each world produces its own unique form of life however, there are hundreds of worlds out there that have been seeded with Humanity from this 'world' throughout this galaxy and beyond. This happened ten thousand of our years in the past. An advanced species used our people as slaves throughout the galaxy. Those creatures chose us. Your people weren't satisfactory."

Both of Atvar's eye turrets pointed at the ambassador. "We of the Race are superior to any Tosevite and this causes me to continue to believe that your words are false. The Race is the most advanced and most civilized species in the galaxy. We have proof of this. We conquered two worlds. Their primitive inhabitants have been incorporated into the Race as will you Tosevites. I began to suspect that your words are a deception to keep us from discovering the truth about Tosev Three."

"I've spoken nothing other than the truth to you. Whether you choose to believe it is a decision that you must make and your decision will affect not only Earth but your home world."

"I believe that it will affect your world more than it will mine. I also believe that if your words have a grain of truth that you may well be the Tau'ri which is another name for Tosevites then we of the Race can help you unify your world." Now one of Atvar's eye turrets remained focused on the ambassador while the other swiveled around towards the other Tosevite creatures. Interpretation of alien body language was difficult but he believed that their constantly quiet muttering and pointed glances at him was an indication that they were frightened by the lies of their political representative. "I propose that your not-Empire, the States United in America should be the authority of Tosevite government on Tosev Three. I propose to use our resources to assist in your political government's conquering of Tosev Three. In this way, your Presidents will be in position of leadership forever, subjected only to the authority of the Race."

"The United States of America does not wish to rule the world and we will never willingly submit ourselves to anyone including the Race. To suggest such a thing proves that the leadership of the Race is not as intelligent as they wish to believe."

Atvar's tail started to twitch, a sure sign of irritation and anger. "I do not understand your reluctance to acknowledge that such an agreement is an acceptable bargain for the United States of America Tosevites. The other Tosevites will follow your orders. We of the Race have had a stable government for thousands of years longer than any Tosevite civilization. We will rule you in wisdom and you will come to venerate the Emperor as we do," and again Atvar lowered his eye turrets for a moment as did the other members of the Race. "All will benefit. Inform your President of our proposal. And also give him this." Atvar turned and handed him a series of paper-like documents.

"Roberts inspected the alien scripted documents. "May I ask, what are these?"

"You may ask," replied the Fleetlord. "These are official documents proclaiming the legal right to Tosev Three. We discovered that world two thousand years ago. We sent a probe sixteen hundred years past to determine its value. The Emperor," had he bowed his eye turrets once more, "approved of the world and these documents were generated giving us legal possession of Tosev Three and the star system in which it resides. The Emperor's stamp is right there beneath his venerated name."

"And what about us?" Roberts asked, as he handed the documents to an amused Daniel.

"Tosevites had little understanding of legal matters. Their ignorance precluded any useful negotiations. The Race is stronger and it is ours by rights because we can take it."

"Fleetlord," Roberts said. "Your documents are not worth the medium it is written on."

To Atvar's great annoyance he heard Straha's, "I told you so," all too clearly.

"I understand you now," spoke the ambassador. "You conquered the other races because you were strong and they were weak."

"Yes. It is the way of things."

"If this is the way of things then I have a counterproposal. I propose that the Earth forces go to Home, kill the Emperor, wipe out any resistance and make you the new Emperor under our control. Do you find that acceptable?"

Atvar heard the words, took a second to realize their importance, and jumped back horrified at the very thought. "Commit Emperor-cide? Never! How could you think of such a horrid prospect? You Tosevites are truly ignorant savages to imagine such a thing! To even contemplate such a thing is to declare war on the Race. Is that what you do?"

"My proposal is merely pointing out how we feel about our world," he responded to the furious Lizard. "It is the same as you feel about yours. Your claims of being civilized have, some as you say, grains of truth. But you have refused to listen to or believe what I have tried to tell you. You may believe that you are advanced, but you are not as advanced as you believe," he said trying to phrase the words so that Atvar would clearly understand him. "At this moment, your race is threatened with devastation of the likes you have never imagined. But you don't believe what I have told you because you do not understand the danger you are in. You do not believe me because what I have told you seems impossible therefore you dismiss it. You believe that you are strong and that strength makes what you do right." He shook his head. "Because of your small victories over those who could not effectively fight back you believe that you are superior. You are wrong. The truth is that the race is in danger of extinction."

"We will fight you!"

"Roberts shook his head. "You misunderstand me. We could easily keep the Race from our world. But it is not us you need to worry about." He moved closer to the Fleetlord, looking down on him. To his credit, Atvar held his ground. "Truth is the hardest concept to acknowledge. Do you wish to understand a few of the mysteries of the universe? Are you strong enough?"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Please note: for those who save these chapters-then chapter 1 and 2 have gone through some minor editing,etc so you may want to update with the newer chapters.**_

_**Have fun **_

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Part Three of four**_

_**127**__**th**__** Emperor Hetto**_

_**Mars Orbit**_

Every single Shiplord and his subordinate of the invasion fleet (then called the conquest fleet, now murmured unofficially to be called the defensive fleet) were either seated or floating in the grand chamber of the _127__th__ Emperor Hetto_. Many of them were infuriated at the situation they found themselves in, but most members of the Race were frightened by the sudden turn of events and the subsequent revelations that continued to occur with horrendous frequency since the fleet had emerged from cold sleep. The two major factions had split; those loyal to Straha crowded behind him. The others supported the Fleetlord.

-Or so Fleetlord Atvar reverently hoped. In truth, he was unsure of the loyalty of any of them, not even Shiplord Kirel who appeared to be his strongest supporter. The only good thing to have happened was that no one but Straha wanted his job now. And he silently cursed Straha's arrogance. He cursed the arrogant Tosevites. He cursed the enemy ships that kept flying in and out of radar range at speeds that should have been impossible to achieve and that terrified every male of the Race. He cursed the Tau'ri; he cursed the planet that they came from and their conquest of Tosev Three. And while he was at it, he cursed the scientists who had found this miserable planet that the Emperor's invasion fleet had yet to see close up. And when had the conquest fleet come to be called the invasion fleet?

"The Tosevites have insisted that we send representatives over to their ship to see the evidence they have," began the Fleetlord. "I have called this meeting to determine who shall go to their ship and view that evidence."

'Their evidence is of secondary importance, exalted Fleetlord," Kirel said. "I find myself more concerned that they would threaten the Emperor and Home."

Atvar glared at his so-called ally. Other Shiplords were seen to be in agreement as they stomped their tails excitedly. Ambassador Robert's statement had sent shockwave throughout the fleet. A few of them wanted to attack and destroy the Tau'ri ship for uttering such an insult despite the fact they had no weapons available to do so.

"Yes, it is as you have said. I too have been horrified that they would say such a thing. I am horrified that they would offer to have me become Emperor of Home. That they would suggest something like this proves that they are ignorant of the ways and the power of the Race."

"So you would never consider such a thing?" Straha asked, his voice full of innocent speculation

Atvar added that Shiplord to the number of things he cursed. He knew to the depths of his liver that Straha knew that he was loyal but he had to say something and for that he would pay. Now he would be forced to answer a question everyone already knew the answer to. "No. I would not usurp the Emperor. I leave that to weak creatures such as you."

"You have insulted my loyalty to the Emperor," yelled Straha who was clearly stung by the comment.

"As you have mine," Atvar commented loudly. "But this is not our main concern. We should be concerned whether the Tau'ri claims that they can arrive to Home before our warning messages can."

"I agree with your assessment, Fleetlord," Shiplord Feneress said. "I have seen their energy matter integration device and as you say, I am frightened for the Race. We need more data to confirm or deny the validity of their claims. If it is true then the conquest fleet is doomed to failure and we will have sacrificed our colonization fleet and all of the members of the Race on those ships. You are our superior. What are your plans to counteract this approaching doom?"

'_Emperor curse him, too.'_

"Every belief that we believed to be true has turned to bite us on the tail stump," Atvar slowly announced. "If what they say has a grain of truth, then our options are few. The conquest fleet would not survive the final few months of travel to Tosev Three without being wrecked. If the Tosevites are only stepping on our tails, then they will still wreak us with only one or two of their high-yield nuclear weapons. If we are able to reach our objective then we would discover one of two things. Either the Tosevites are telling the truth and they are Tosevites with technology and science beyond our knowledge, or they are lying and the probes will show the truth. If they are lying then I do not believe we could conquer the planet."

The Shiplords and their adjutants hissed in dismay, thumping their short stubby tails at the shocking conclusion that Atvar had come to.

"If the Tau'ri or Tosevites have lied to us, then how can we lose?" demanded Shiplord Relek.

"If the Tau'ri have lied then their presence is either not on the planet or is of very little influence. But that does not preclude the fact that they could call for more of their ships and finish destroying what is left of the conquest fleet from space." None of the Shiplords said anything in disagreement for which Atvar was grateful. "We could only hope to refuel and resupply so that we could leave the planet before the Tau'ri could destroy us all. That would not save the colonization fleet. We must protect the civilian fleet but if we are not alive to do so then, Emperor preserve us, this will be the worst disaster ever experienced by the Race."

"And that disaster will be chronicled in the history of the Race forever and you, Fleetlord will he held responsible for the losses of the both the invasion and colonization fleet."

"And what would you have us to do, Straha?"

"If I were Fleetlord, then I could have our ships break orbit from Tosev Four now and head directly to our objective. I could have our ships modified to fire nuclear weapons as soon as we could when we reached Tosev Three. I would use our nuclear stores on _56__th__ Emperor Jossano_ to beat them into submission from orbit."

"Thereby wreaking the planet where we would have to survive on until the colonization fleet would arrive," Kirel hissed. "Or," he added, "giving the Tau'ri an excuse to destroy our conquest fleet. You talk of offensive weaponry, not defensive. How much time do you think it would take to create and deploy such weapons for the fleet? That has not entered your brainpan and that is why you are not the Fleetlord."

"The Tau'ri are subverting us," Straha hissed. There was a trace of real anger in his voice. "We are doing nothing but talking while our resources dwindle."

"This is why I have chosen you Shiplord Straha, to go the Tau'ri ship to determine the validity of their statements."

The Shiplord stood up. "Fleetlord, I am a Shiplord and as such a security risk," he said quickly. "I am too valuable. And if you must send a Shiplord why not send Kirel? You trust him to give you an accurate report."

Atvar experienced a small thrill watching Straha twitch almost uncontrollably. It was the Shiplord's right to reject the 'honor' that Atvar placed on his shoulders him, but if he did then his credibility would be completely ruined in the eye turrets of his faction. Yes, there was fear but Atvar was taking an awful chance as well. If the Tosevites 'did' torture or kill a Shiplord of the Race, then Atvar would have his answer. He understood that the Tosevites were dangerous, but how dangerous and how desperate they were remained to be seen.

Atvar's lower jaw opened he began to laugh, something that chilled the others into submission. "I trust you to give us an accurate report. I do not believe that the Tau'ri will do anything to you unless you give them cause to. Straha, you have often stated what you would do if you were in command, so I now give you that opportunity. You are a loyal member of the Race and I will send with you Intelligence operator Drefsab and senior psychologist Tessrek. They will help you ascertain the truth. Of course when you leave the ship I will have given orders to change all of the codes on your ship. If you are tortured or killed in any way the codes you have will not be useful in aiding the enemy. It is not my wish that you die some horrible Tau'ri death but if you do, die knowing that you do so for the glory of the Race."

Shiplord Feneress shook his tail, a respectful sign that he wished to be heard. "Fleetlord, I would respectfully remind everyone here that even if we had the time to develop defensive weapons, we are still at a supreme disadvantage. If Shiplord Straha is detained, then our disadvantage increases exponentially. As the ancient texts have revealed, diplomacy is another form of prisoner exchange. He should not go. Send someone less valuable to the Tau'ri or Tosevites as they should be called."

"We must send someone qualified that the enemy will respect," Atvar said and he reverently hoped it was so. "I do not believe that they will do anything to our Shiplord. They seem eager to keep us from achieving planet-fall and we must know if they are predators or simply prey pretending to be predators. We must have bait to capture the truth."

"And I am to be this bait?" Straha asked.

"The bait must be salty enough for the Tosevites to take it," answered Atvar. "You are a savory enough to be chosen as acceptable bait. Do you officially state that you will not comply with my order?"

"Exalted Fleetlord," Straha said. "It-it shall be done," he said.

xxx

The Race shuttle broke orbit from Tosev Four and headed for the Tau'ri ship _Odyssey_. Shiplord Straha felt helpless as he and the others strapped securely to their seats headed towards the intimidating alien ship. The pilot had insisted that the trip would take twenty-two minutes, provided that the alien ship did not fire and destroy the shuttle.

"This is a most exciting time, Shiplord," Senior Shuttlepilot Nignxe said. "I never thought that I would be the one to pilot a shuttle to an alien spaceship to meet Tau'ri things." His naïve optimism made Straha's liver hurt.

"They are Tosevites," Straha corrected in a tone that made it clear that he didn't wish to speak about this upcoming mission.

The pilot either was either unaware of the Shiplord's hint or addled; he wasn't able to determine which suspicion was the truth yet. He needed to concentrate on the hastily read notes on the Race's history on diplomacy and this male voice grated on his earframes.

"Many members of the Race are now calling them Big Uglies. Such a name is most appropriate. Many males cannot believe that the Big Uglies can walk upright and remain stable without a tail to balance their awkward frames. Big Uglies are such alien things," he hissed with pleasure. "There are so many questions that I wish to ask if I am permitted to speak to their pilot. I wonder if their experiences are similar to ours and would their pilot have knowledge of comparable to mine? But Shiplord, if they are as advanced as some of the males say they are, then I can barely imagine the things we can learn from them. I do hope that they will not eat us when we arrive on their ship. We were expecting savages but it has turned out that…"

"Senior shuttle-pilot."

"Yes, Shiplord?"

"Shut up."

"It shall be done, Shiplord."

xxx

"One secret to understanding these Tosevites is to understand their body language," Tessrek said to the Intelligence officer. "We know next to nothing about them other than what our probes have indicated and our probes have been inadequate to the task."

"Truth," Drefsab hissed. "That is why I am to act as your senior secretary. I can record all available information without the aliens detecting our true motives. But I profess curiosity concerning the techniques you will employ to obtain truth in these matters."

Tessrek's tail thumped slowly in response to the question. It was nice that he was respected by a senior intelligence officer. And his station was much better than Subleader Communications Officer Erelwo who gave every appearance of wanting to do nothing more than crawl back into his eggshell and hide for the next few years. He did feel sorry for the poor officer. Atvar had ordered him to come, calling him a purveyor of bad news. So here he was, a communication's officer who had no other choice but to most likely deliver even more bad news in the immediate future. Maybe being a communications officer was worse than being forced into a soldier's time. Most tacticians believed that the soldiers would have little to nothing to do and that the threat of Tosev Three was minimal. That belief had changed dramatically in the last few days. "I will listen carefully to their answers as Shiplord Straha questions them. How they answer, how long they speak, their movements and other movements will give me a basis to determine how these creatures speak truths or lies. I do not know what their body language will reveal or how it will reveal itself and it will take much time to analyze but once I obtain the data, I will create a computer model that will give us an advantage in our future communications with them. But we need to first determine the most basic of truths. For example, how can we tell males from females if they work together? With those wrappings on, they all look alike. And are the Tosevites Tau'ri, or are the Tau'ri conquerors of the Tosevites?"

Drefsab opened his mouth, showing his small sharp teeth in agreement. "If they are one and the same then the Race will have much difficulty securing the planet if at all. There will be war, one we may not win. The Race can not survive knowing that our neighbors could come and smash our worlds. We must attack but if we do at this time then we will likely lose." He began to laugh. "It will most likely not matter to us because we will be long dead."

Tessrek did not like listening to such negative talk. The last thing he had expected would be to have the fate of the Race place onto his claws. "We are the Race. It should be a simple matter of determining the truth and their weaknesses. But this is something beyond our recorded experiences and since I have awaken from cold sleep answer these new questions, I have been studying the ancient texts in the belief that our ancestors have had some knowledge of our current situation. If we can give them something they want then they will most likely reciprocate.

"I do not believe that that approach will work," said Drefsab. "When the Fleetlord provided papers proving our legal claim to Tosev Three to the Tau'ri, they laughed at us. They will not honor the Emperor's rights."

"Barbarians."

"Barbarians with nuclear weapons and devices that can transmit them through space without being attached to missiles," added Drefsab. "I see many possibilities for the use of such a device and I am not happy with those thoughts. We must provide a counterweight for the Fleetlord to use and do so quickly."

"We now know of the existence of this wondrous technology. How long would it take to reproduce such a device?"

"Far too long," the intelligence officer stated. "If we understand the dynamics of such a device then not less than three hundred years if we can rush our scientists. But such a technology predisposes that others are already in existence such as computers that can process such intensive targeting and energy transmission. Their ships are too fast for us and I am positive if I can think of these things with a flick of the tongue, then the Fleetlord can imagine many such vile devices waiting to be used against us."

"Then we are already defeated?"

"That is a distinct possibility," Drefsab answered adding an emphatic cough to punctuate his statement. "However if they are lying, the Race has a chance."

"If they are telling the truth, then will the Race become servants to their, ah not-empires?"

"By all of the Emperors," and he lowered his eye turrets out of respect as did Tessrek, "I hope not with every bit of my liver. And let us also hope that the truth does not bite us too badly.

xxx

"The Tau'ri are aware of our approach and are instructing us to dock on the _Odyssey's_ rear port side," the senior shuttlepilot said. "But I do not see how it is possible as our docking systems are incompatible."

Straha, now sitting in his passenger's seat securely strapped in. "Continue your approach," he told him. The Tau'ri may have some type of extendable system that can mate with our shuttle."

"It shall be done."

"Shiplord," Drefsab whispered. "They may use their transportation device."

Straha had thought of that as well and was not looking forward to the experience. Happily, the transport didn't occur although the pilot seemed somewhat unhappy. The Tau'ri ship's rear opened to reveal a small docking bay in which the shuttle was able to enter without difficulty. The Race shuttle performed its maneuver flawlessly and as ordered was within five meters of the docking area. Large doors opened and the shuttle slowly entered coming to a halt. The doors closed and the area quickly pressurized.

Several of the Tosevites were seen lumbering through a seal, an indication that there was breathable atmosphere inside the bay. Straha wasn't excited about exiting his shuttle but he would do so if for nothing else than to rub the Fleetlord's snout in this most foolish of endeavors. But for now, he and the other males were prisoners of aliens.

xxx

Senior shuttlepilot Nignxe was the first to exit the shuttle. He almost tripped as he navigated the three short stairs. He wasn't injured but he still hissed in wonder. There was gravity and there had been the moment the shuttle had entered the bay. He could scarcely believe it. The others may or may not have noticed but it didn't matter at this moment. Tessrek, Drefsab and Erelwo followed closely with Straha being the last to exit. All of them were having difficulty walking in the presence of gravity after being weightless for so long. The huge Tosevites using their strange upright stance moved toward them with apparent ease. The others were cautions. Nignxe was elated due to the fact that this was the most exciting thing he'd ever experienced. Taking great strength he managed to remain quiet as Straha began to speak. Then he started to shiver.

"Greetings Ambassador Roberts?" Straha asked cautiously. Both of his eye turrets were locked onto the alien he believed was the Ambassador. Tosevites all looked alike to him and with only very little experience he couldn't really tell one from another. He hoped that he was correct as one of the creatures stood in front of the others which may have represented a sign of superiority. Plus he had the translating device.

"Greetings Shiplord Straha," the Tosivite said. I am General O'Neill." Dashing the Shiplord's beliefs. "I am honored that you have taken the time to come to speak to us on our ship. I trust that you did not bring any weapons with you?"

Straha lowered his eye turrets just a fraction. He shivered as the cold almost frigid air assaulted him and the other members of the Race. Their body temperature must be much higher to be able to endure such coldness and he hated it. "We have done as you requested. We have no weapons other than our claws and teeth. Those we could not leave behind," he answered. "General, the temperature inside this bay is very cold to us. Is this vengeance because of the condition of our ship was not pleasing to you Big Tosevites?"

The Tau'ri had complained about the warmth and Atvar had responded by saying that the Race's ship was the Race and if the Tosevites didn't like it then that was their problem. In retrospect maybe Atvar should have been a bit more accommodating. It did explain why they all wore wrappings over their body rather than paint like a civilized race would.

"Not at all, Shiplord." And Straha wondered why was the alien showing his teeth? "This is a comfortable temperature for those of our kind. If you will follow me, I will take you to our meeting room."

"We will follow." He would resign himself to shivering. There was no choice; he was a diplomatic prisoner.

xxx

It '_was'_ cold.

Drefsab walked behind Senior Psychologist Tessrek. His body paint reflected that of a secretary and as such he was the least important member of the party. He calm on the outside but internally he felt his liver shrinking and he could see Tessrek felt the same way although he wasn't hiding it as well. Just the simple things they'd seen in the last few minutes had proven that these Tau'ri or Tosevites were more advanced than even he had imagined in his worst nightmares. The fighter killer crafts seen in neat rolls ready to attack and destroy, were space capable.

The gravity system that this ship used was beyond the science of the Race. There were other small things that terrified him and he knew then and there that the Race had no chance to defeat these creatures under current conditions. Technologically wise, the Race was too far behind. The conquest fleet was doomed to failure.

Already he was thinking of ways to counter this threat. Perhaps a sneak attack with hundreds of nuclear weapons would be a useful approach. If however it wasn't a complete and total surprise then Home would be turned into a burned out cinder. And how many colony worlds did these Tosevites have? Tosevites. More and more that is what he believed them to be, an independent species that had somehow defied logic and had developed at the speed of an aggressive malignancy. What little he'd seen convinced him of the truth of their words. They had no need to lie, not with this amount of technology at their disposal.

Straha was not impressed with the room when he first saw it. It was a bit warmer but not up to his tastes. His tongue receptors were irritating him as the alien smells assaulted him. And everything was to big, being built for the aliens instead of the Race. Instead of chairs for his people, there was a long bench, not the most comfortable thing, but it would accommodate their tails. There was also a smaller table for them, a nice consideration, and one that he hadn't thought to provide the Tau'ri when they were at the command ship. In front of them on the smaller table was a translation device. This time he was sure that the alien in front of him was the Ambassador. "Ambassador Roberts?"

"Yes, Shiplord Straha, I am Ambassador Roberts."

"I introduce the males of my small group," he said in relief. "Senior psychologist Tessrek whose duty is to understand you Tosevites and help us facilitate your entry into the Empire. Senior Secretary Drefsab will take and correlate notes of this meeting, Senior Shuttlepilot Nignxe who is responsible for the shuttle and our transportation, and Subleader Communications officer Erelwo who is responsible for our continued communications with the Race if we are permitted to do so."

Roberts turned and pointed to the people sitting next to him. "This is General O'Neill, whom you know."

"If you say so," Straha muttered. "You Tosevites all look alike."

Roberts ignored the slight. "Next to him is Colonel Carter, our resident scientist, Daniel Jackson our resident anthropologist, whose job is similar to Senior Psychologist Tessrek and Teal'c, a representative of the Freed Jaffa nation and an ally of the Tau'ri."

Daniel and O'Neill both caught the look of the secretary Drefsab as his eyes locked onto Teal'c and started writing notes. In fact both men noticed that this particular lizard didn't miss much at all. The way he took everything with his eye turrets rotating here and there way too efficiently indicated that he was more than just a simple secretary and was most likely their equivalent of the resident spook.

"Shiplord Straha, Earth will not become part of the Race's empire," Ambassador Roberts said. "Before that happens there will be war and millions perhaps billions on both sides may lose their lives. Is that what you want?"

"War can be averted if you surrender now," the Shiplord countered. "The Race can incorporate you Tosevites easily and you will become full members in less than a thousand years. That is an offer not to be taken lightly."

This was going nowhere. "Did your Fleetlord consider the offer we gave him concerning overthrowing your emperor and establishing himself as the first of a new line of Emperors of Home under our guidance?" All of the lizards hissed in unified anger, which Roberts chose to ignore because it got their attention. "Perhaps you might be interested in becoming emperor, Shiplord?"

"NO! We would fight you for just saying such a thing."

"Ambassador Sir," asked Tessrek who now tried to ease the growing tensions in the room, "the Race has been unified for the past hundred thousand years under the emperors," and again he lowered his eye turrets. "We venerate (worship) the Emperor for his power to rule over us. To even suggest such a thing as you have is to invite war with the totality of the Race. You will not survive such a war. So it would be wise if you surrendered to the will of the Emperor and there can be a lasting peace between our people."

"Ambassador, may I?" asked Daniel. "Shiplord and Senior Scientist Tessrek, the Human race does not do well under slavery. Sooner of later we will fight to free ourselves no matter what the cost. The people of Rabotev and Halless apparently are not like us for we will not submit to the Race under any circumstances."

"We do offer you the hand of friendship," Roberts added, "or we can leave each other alone. The third alternative is too horrible to contemplate."

"How can there be friendship between us?" Shiplord Straha asked. "We do not know who you are. We do not know what you are. Who controls the Tosevites? Who are the Tau'ri? I know what you say but you have not offered proof of what you say to be true."

"The world you call Tosev Three is called Earth by the people who live there. We call ourselves Humans and another name we call ourselves is Terran. Others across the stars have called us the Tau'ri and we use that name as well. But whether we call ourselves Humans, Terrans or the Tau'ri we are one and the same and our world is called Earth."

"Confusing is what it is," huffed the lizard. "Earth is a foolish name."

"This coming from someone who named their world 'Home' and their people 'the Race'?" asked O'Neill.

"What else would we call ourselves?" asked Straha. "But it does not matter. There can be no friendship unless it is the Race who leads."

"And why would you want us to submit ourselves to you?"

"Because we are superior."

"Ah, ha!" said O'Neill. "And why are you superior?"

"Because we are 'the Race'."

"I knew you were going to say that! And what makes you superior?"

"Everything."

Roberts smiled coldly. The lizards had played into their hands.

xxx

Drefsab didn't like the way Straha had just stepped into the diplomatic claws of the Tosevites without even realizing it. There was nothing he could do but watch now and pray to the celestial dead Emperors that the aliens wouldn't do something painful to them all.

The Tosevite called Ambassador Roberts turned towards General O'Neill and nodded. Interesting, their necks were more flexible in their movement, probably an adaptation to correct for their limited eye movements. That one got up and left the room.

"Shiplord Straha, in the interests of peace, we are about to open your eyes to the larger picture."

"My eyes are open," Straha said, misunderstanding. "Why would they not be open here?"

"I apologize. It is a saying that means that a person will see more of the truth that surrounds him. We are going to take you on a little trip."

"Where," asked an alarmed Atvar. "If this is a deception, my people will avenge me with every weapon with their disposal!"

"This is not a threat," Roberts told Straha. ""We simply want you to understand what you are trying to conquer and why it is not in your best interests to do so."

Drefsab was worried. This was their ship and there was little that the members of the Race could do to save them. They had to trust the Tau'ri to keep their promise of safety as the Fleetlord had promised to them on _127__th__ Emperor Hetto._ The Shiplord was right, the Race would demand vengeance no matter how long it took and he feared that that action would doom the Race.

"Please follow us," Roberts told them.

"Where are you taking us?" demanded Straha.

"To the bridge. We will not hurt you."

"Then, it shall be done." Straha got up followed by the others and together lead by the tall Ambassador the proceeded to leave the room followed by huge and intimidating soldiers carrying strange, very intimidating weapons.

Drefsab was surprised. He first believed they were going to a prison cubicle not to the heart of an alien spaceship. However he didn't sense any type of threat and he followed. He didn't know what to expect but if he survived this, his report would be most interesting reading. Going to their bridge would give him plenty of insight and data to formulate defensive strategies that would be needed in the coming battle against the Tosevites.

General O'Neill was at the bridge and invited Straha towards the small window, surprising the reptiles that there would be a window there in the first place. Looking out, they could see the ships of the Race in orbit around reddish planet called Tosev Four. They were huge, powerful vessels, but they looked vulnerable clustered together without any offensive weaponry in which to strike back if attacked.

"Shiplord, I've informed your Fleetlord that we will be taking a short trip to offer proof of our claims," O'Neill informed him. "I've also told him that his ships will remain in orbit. If they attempt to break orbit and move anywhere near Earth, we will consider this an act of war. This means that we will blow every ship you have into scrap metal."

"How has the Fleetlord responded?" asked Straha. His eyes, one staring at the General and the other at the fleet blinked rapidly, a sign of the apprehension he now experienced.

"He said he was the Fleetlord and would do whatever he chose to do in the name of the Emperor," the General responded. The Race had no way to know it, but he was somewhat impressed by the stubbornness of their leader despite the odds against them. "However," he continued, "in the interests of uncovering the truth, his ships would remain in orbit and not move in the direction of the Earth. He also holds us responsible for the safety of the members of the Race onboard our ship. I have agreed to this. No harm will come to you. From a diplomatic point of view we will do everything we can to make sure that you remain safe and secure on this vessel."

"I do not understand," Tessrek said. "We are your prisoners, to do what you will. Why would you want to protect us?"

"As diplomatic representatives of a foreign government, you were invited to come to this ship which is the sovereign territory of another foreign government. When you arrived on this vessel, certain rules, uh, activated themselves. One of these rules is that we become responsible for the protection and safety of the foreign visitors. You came in peace, not as prisoners, and you will leave in peace despite the threat of war."

"Your concept of diplomacy is strange. You Tosevites are indeed strange." The Tau'ri were powerful and could easily destroy the conquest fleet. That much was clear however they had chosen not to and they treated the delegation with some respect despite the threats. At first he believed that it was because the aliens feared the Race but as much as he tried, he couldn't quite convince himself that that theory was correct. These aliens were strong, but they did not exert their dominance the way the Race would have. "How long will we be gone?"

"Not more than two weeks as understood by your measurement of time," replied Roberts.

The _Korolev_ and the _Apollo_ were scheduled to go to Atlantis in a week. This would be the first time both ships would be sent to that distant galaxy together. The replicator problem had to be dealt with and time was of the essence. That would leave the _Odyssey_ and four other ships left to protect Earth. They weren't expecting any trouble but with the Asgardian technology now in the hands of Earth, trouble would be homing in on them like a magnet. The Goa'uld suspected the truth already.

"You desire to show us proof but that time frame is not sufficient to do so," snorted Straha which his hissing clicking style of speech sounded like an angry tea kettle. Already the Races ship were moving from view as the Tau'ri ship began to turn towards open space. "How will we get to Tosev Three in such a short time?"

"We use a form of travel called hyperdrive. That allows us to travel faster than light without suffering any of the relativistic effects," answered O'Neill.

Straha and Tessrek were amused by such an outright lie. Drefsab lowered his jaw amused as well but seemed a lot more thoughtful. The heavily feathered lizard Erelwo looked as if he wanted to curl into a ball and die right then and there. It was becoming too much for him, as it was something completely out of his experience.

Senior Shuttlepilot Nignxe's response was different. He seemed to want to grab the General or the nearest convenient alien and start an interactive interrogation. He was the one who took the General's word as absolute fact. "General Superior Sir," he began. "How is this possible and if it is then how do you bypass the physics of normal space? Do you travel above the established speed of light or do you have the capability to travel even faster? And how do you compensate for the destructive forces of inertia? If you can compensate for this then does your ability to generate gravity on this vessel in some way help to accomplish this? Why is it that…?"

"Hold it, hold it," O'Neill growled. _'Great, I just found Daniel's lizard counterpart'_ he thought.

"What am I to hold, General Superior Sir?" he asked absolutely eager to please.

"Earth euphemism which means 'please wait'," supplied Daniel. He couldn't help but smile at the creature's enthusiasm.

"Senior Shuttlepilot Nignxe, they are not your superiors!" Straha told the Race shuttle pilot. Refrain from using that honorific."

"Yes, superior sir," Nignxe gulped.

"The _Apollo_ and _Korolev_ are on station. We are cleared for navigation."

"Coordinates confirmed, heading for Earth at your command, Colonel."

"Let's not waste time shall we?" Colonel Wilson ordered. "General, we're ready."

"Wait!" yelled Drefsab. His voice came out as a high squeak. "We are not prepared for the acceleration that you Tosevites are used to!" The others were also alarmed by the lack of preparation. "We require safety belts and proper seating to forestall any injuries that might occur during this procedure!"

"Nah," replied a smiling O'Neill. Still smiling he pointed to the Colonel, who issued the order.

The windows blackness of space suddenly turned a blue-white tunnel as the _Odyssey_ went into hyper-lightspeed. All of the lizards stared at it unable to understand what they were seeing. The image in the window only lasted a few seconds. When the ship transitioned into normal space revealing that they were near Earth's moon, well actually passing it by, the members of the Race couldn't believe accept it.

xxx

"This is a deception!" Straha exclaimed. "This can not be a truth!" Both eyes were glued to the window even as he launched into a tirade of the impossibilities of what he was seeing. Next to him, Nignxe stood equally transfixed. The only thing that moved was his tail which twitched in sync with his heartbeat. Tessrek wasn't watching the screen, but instead his eye turrets swiveled around at the human crew trying to determine if they had somehow generated this deception as he didn't believe it was possible either. Alien body language was unknown to him but he tried using all of his experience available to him.

A stunned Drefsab simply watched the General, who was apparently very amused at the entire scene. And he admitted he would be amused as well if he were not on the tail-side of this joke. "General O'Neill," he said. "This may be a deception as the Shiplord has pronounced. I wish to prove whether it is or not."

The general glared back at the lizard that claimed to be a secretary but acted anything but. "And," started O'Neill, "how do you propose to do that?"

"I wish to go to your hanger deck and look for Tosev Three using my own eye turrets. That will determine the validity of this truth or non-truth."

"I don't have a problem with that. Ambassador?"

"Very wise of you, senior Secretary Drefsab," Ambassador Roberts said. "Shiplord Straha, do you agree?"

"Yes," he simply answered.

A few minutes later, the entourage was escorted to the launch bay. The ship had reversed its position as it slowly approached Earth so that the planet was easily visible to those in the launce bay.

If the window had been a shock, then the view of the planet the members of the Race knew as Tosev Three looming closer and closer at a startling speed that should have been all but impossible slammed at them like a storm. The ship circled close enough for huge Human cities large enough to equal those at home to be seen clearly. Satellites could be seen in orbit as well as other Tau'ri ships. In the end it did not matter whether they were Tau'ri or Tosevites, the planet was already colonized to the point that the Race would have to wreck the planet just too simply place their own colony there. With these vessels and their firepower, the race would spend exorbitant amounts of resources and in the end achieve nothing but the destruction of their people.

Proof.

Horrible, stunning, undeniable, terrifying proof.

"I," started Straha and then he stopped. "I accept this truth," he managed to say. The Shiplord stopped seeming to freeze as he could only stare at the fast closing planet, so big now that it looked as if he could touch it with his claws. "I must contact the Fleetlord and tell him of this truth,' he finished.

"We can arrange that," O'Neill said.

"No, we must use our shuttle communications to ensure security," Straha whispered. He still hadn't move.

Using standard non-lightspeed radio would be slow but it would also be addition conclusive proof that they had traveled so far so quickly. "Okay," Jack said. "Go ahead."

"Erelwo, do so."

Erelwo's eye turrets swiveled to the Shiplord. "It will be done," he whispered. The Race officer slowly entered the shuttle. He seemed to be frightened.

Daniel watched him enter and noticed how low slung his head was and how his tail twitched sporadically.

Meanwhile, the Senior Shuttlepilot couldn't decide whether to continue to look at Earth or the Human crew. Finally the dam broke as he turned to stare first at O'Neill, and then Daniel and finally the Ambassador. "This is such a glorious time to have hatched from the egg! I expected to find primitive brutal savages, but now I have those I can learn from," he exclaimed. "It is glorious!"

At the same time, the Senior Secretary's response was somewhat different. "By the Emperors blessed waste pellets! The Race will not tolerate being subjugated by the Tau'ri Tosevite Race," a panicked Drefsab said. Gone was the almost subservient personality that had been so characteristic of him. "We have been the Race for more than one hundred thousand years and we will fight to preserve our culture no matter the costs!"

That's when they all heard the scream.

"My liver hurts! Make it stop!" Erelow shrieked as he grabbed his tail and bit into it. "Emperor save me!" The officer dropped to the floor racked with convulsions as he rambled. "The Fleetlord hates me and has turned his eye turrets against me. I have only reported to him the truth and he will curse me as soon as he receives the transmission of woe. When I report more truths to him, I will be stripped of my position and I will be abandoned by the Race. My liver hurts with the pain of rejection! I will die with the truth on my snout and everyone will hate me forever. The venerated Imperial ancestors past will not allow me into their presence!"

He began wailing once more as Tessrek between him and a still paralyzed Straha trying to help both and doing neither. All the while, an amused and bewildered Daniel was being assaulted by Nignxe who wanted to know if he could go to Earth, perhaps rent an apartment and meet other members of the space crew.

"Is this what it means to come into contact with your race?" Tessrek wailed at a helpless looking Daniel.

xxx

General O'Neill, Teal'c and Roberts were off to the side looking rather shell-shocked. Medics were standing by but it was little they could do without instructions from Tessrek and he wasn't very forthcoming at the moment.

"Well," O'Neill said to no one in general. "Let's see. We have the lizard almost comatose, another who is having a nervous breakdown all because he is the designated bearer of bad news. We have one secretary," and he sneered at that word," screaming that they will never submit to Humanity as slaves which we don't want in the first place. And of course, we have the psychologist trying to help keep his people from having a nervous breakdown while at the edge himself. And let's not forget one overly excited lizard that would probably join the SGC in a heartbeat if we asked." _Now '_that'_ would be interesting_, thought the General. "All in all, not bad for a First Contact."

"Indeed." Teal'c gazed at the Ambassador and his friend. "I wonder what will happen when we take them to Home?"

"Hope they won't all die on us. That would be embarrassing."

"I confess that I feel sorry for them," Roberts said. "But there's no choice. We have to step on them to keep from killing them, better cultural upheaval than nuclear Armageddon."

"Yep."

Roberts turned to O'Neill. "I hope the cameras are working. The President wants pictures."

"I confess to wanting a few myself."

"By the Emperors blessed waste pellets?" Teal'c deadpanned.

O'Neill shrugged. "Still holy, eh, crap by any other name."

"I believe you are correct, GeneralO'Neill."

End of part three


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Everyone: First of all, thank you for your kind comments and reviews...that includes Samael03 and his partner, he -who can-almost-spell, because they do read the story and it motivates them enough to write semi-incoherent reviews when they could have simply ignored this story and others altogether. I say "may you enjoy the rest of this story and may the Lord have mercy on your souls."

Now as you read this you will see that this is not the end of the story. I have had to add one more chapter coming up to complete this to my satisfaction. Try as I could, I could not justify using the ginger addiction in this story simply because the time frame of the story would not permit it. In addition you will notice that there is a bit less humor here and a bit of redundancy concerning the Race's comments which is characteristic of Harry Turtledoves style concerning the Race.

Lastly I have been slow on the uptake with ATV and the supplement but I will get there as soon as I can. Work has increased significantly and has slowed down my favorite hobby. I have been remiss in answering comments and a few emails but that will be changing so if you have any questions let me know. I also recommend that you read Rob Regent's "Reunions" story located on this site as it is in several ways closely related to this story. The are not the same but they do have some interesting parallels. Again thanks to all,

AG/Skeet

_**Part Four**_

President Hayes felt a headache coming seconds after Ambassador Roberts and General O'Neill's faces appeared on the huge flat screen viewer in the Oval Office. After a couple of moments he took a deep breath as his body tried to decide whether it wanted to collapse on the floor in laughter or cringe with dread.

"So let me understand this," he said slowly. "Twenty percent of the lizard delegation is having some sort of nervous breakdown the other twenty percent are trying their best not to. Is this correct?"

"Yes, Mister President."

Hayes clapped his hands and smiled his winning smile. "The stick worked. This is going better than I hoped. This should keep them from attacking us in the short term. Now we have to apply the carrot."

"Yes, Sir," piped in O'Neill. "PWX 124 is the perfect planet for them, lots of desert, several small high salt seas a couple of medium-sized forests and no sentient population. It's an ancient naquada mining planet, similar to Abydoslong since played out. There's been no activity there for at least a thousand years. The problem is that it's about two thousand light years from their home planet."

"Is there a stargate there?"

"Yes, Sir but if they choose to go there then we will disable it. They won't be able go anywhere without our help. And we will use the gate at PCA 117 to gate over to PWX 124."

"How do you remember those names"" Hayes asked.

"Practice, Sir. Lots and lots of practice."

"That dependency will give us time to build up relations with them as we will use our ships as couriers between the two worlds," Roberts added.

"And we'll add a subspace relay between the two worlds so that they can have instant communications, something they don't have now," O'Neill added. "Should make them happy."

"Sounds good, gentlemen although I could see a thousand things going wrong. But so far so good."

"Mister President, we will go to Home first and announce our presence to them after we reveal the stargate."

"Sir," the General started. "Are you sure you want to reveal the stargate to the Race?"

"I don't see a choice at this time." The IOA wants to reveal its presence to the world and we would have as you well know. But that's been curtailed for the time being. We have another situation developing."

"Sir?"

"Not your problem right now. Show the Race the stargate. With the distances involved we should be able to keep the secret for a while until we make the final decision. Keep up the good work and don't forget my pictures. Get a couple of autographs if you can, gotta keep my ever-growing collection current."

"Yes, Sir."

Oh, and our staff here have developed a name for the 'Members of the Race. There was a small contest. Lizardoids, lizoids, repillianoids, reptoids, quite a few names if you can imagine. We settled on lizardians as our name for their species. Frankly, we got sick of calling them 'the members of the Race' every time we mentioned them. Remember that, General."

The General knew an order when he heard one. "Yes, Sir."

With the channel closed, the screen went back to dual channel mode with CNN and MSNBC fighting for his attention. His attention however wasn't on the video feeds. Other concerns were in development. Humanity, specifically Earth needed to develop allies and fast. He desperately hoped hat the Race could be reasoned with. He didn't want to commit genocide on his watch, not if he could help it.

"The order has been given," General O'Neill said as he strolled onto the bridge. Set a course for Mars. We'll need to let the Fleetlord know where we're going, for appearance's sake of course. Give us a bit of time"

"Yes, Sir," responded Wilson. "Set a course for Mars."

"Course laid in, Sir. Ready at your command."

"Do it."

_**Odyssey**_

_Odyssey _broke orbit smoothly accelerating to light speed as it vectored towards the fourth planet.

"Shiplord Straha, can you hear me? Do you still have the ability to function normally?" asked a very worried Senior Psychologist.

Straha's head bobbed slightly. He hadn't spoken for the last hour, something that caused both Tessrek and Drefsab more than a bit of consternation. This small acknowledgement was a relief to both them and the Human crew as well. "I am well," he answered slowly. "My liver has calmed itself somewhat with the understanding that truth is truth no matter how much I wish to believe otherwise. I – we all expected an easy victory. How hard could it be to conquer and civilize an agricultural society?" he mused. "We would teach them the language of the Race and proper social skills to make them proper creatures." He laughed long and hard causing both Tessrek and Drefsab to follow suit reveling in the irony of the situation they found themselves in.

"I do see the irony of this predicament," said Drefsab. "But I am afraid that I do not see any way to avoid the destruction of the Race. All evidence points to the truth that they are stronger than we are. If we attack them, they will destroy us. If we return, we sacrifice the colonization fleet and hundreds of thousands of males and females of the Race will die. The Tosevites will one day go to Home and conquer us and civilize us as we thought to do to them."

There was more laughter.

"I wish I had never hatched from the egg," Straha said after a moment. "Non-existence would have been easier than this hideous truth we are faced with. But now that we have the truth facing us we must make use of it as best we can."

As they continued to discuss matters, one of the Tosevites came over to speak to him. She spoke and as she did so the translator given to the Race functioned properly translating her mushy-guttural language into civilized speech.

"Shiplord Straha, are you feeling better?" she asked. At least he knew that this particular Tau'ri was female. It was nice that one of the creatures had told him what gender she was or he could have never known the difference.

"My condition has improved somewhat," he said dryly.

The female looked him over with an intensity that disturbed him. Clearly they did not want anything to happen to him and that made him feel better.

"Is there anything that I can get you," she asked.

"Can you return to that primitive state that you were only eight hundred of your years earlier?"

"Sorry, Shiplord," Daniel announced he came over to the small group gathering. "We can't."

"Well, I cannot see what else you have to offer that would be of benefit to me or the Race."

"That is very short-sighted thinking, Shiplord," the doctor told him, something that gave him pause. "If you would like some water or something to eat please let me know. We wouldn't want to poison you by mistake."

I am sure your superiors would punish you severely for such an error," Drefsab said. "But we appreciate your concern. You may leave us to attend your other duties."

Doctor Jhalli merely shook her lead and left, leaving Tosevite Daniel alone with them. Her other patient, the lizard named Erelwo was in the infirmary curled on a bed, tail in his mouth hissing. For the life of her, he was exhibiting all of the signs of a terrified child wanting nothing more than to be cuddled by his mother, at least that's what it looked like from a Human perspective.

"What is it that you wish to speak to us of, Daniel Jackson?" Straha asked.

"I wanted to let you know that we are returning to Mars so that you may give your report to the Fleetlord in person," the alien said. "After that is done, this ship is going to Home."

All three of the lizards looked at him in stunned surprise. "Home?" Tessrek hissed. "You will go to Home?"

"Yes. We will contact your Emperor and attempt to come to a peaceful settlement before this turns into a shooting war."

"Home will never submit to you creatures," hissed Drefsab. "We will destroy you."

"We are not interested in forcing you to submit to us," answered the alien. The Tosevite Daniel looked at him with his small stiff eyes. "Do you really want a war?"

"We want to win. We- we want to feel safe."

Daniel stared at the Shiplord. That was a very striking admission. "There are many ways to win, Shiplord. And getting killed isn't a good way to feel safe."

"When Home finds out about you creatures, they may be frightened enough to declare all out war in order to preserve the Race. I am frightened enough to declare war and I do not think it is a wise decision. My liver says to destroy you but my mind still searches for a way to survive this."

"Do you always say what is on your mind, Shiplord?"

Yes," he answered. "If you do not say what is on your mind, then how will others understand what you mean?"

Daniel sat down thinking about what he'd just heard. It was clear that the Race weren't used to subterfuge at the level humans were capable of, not even close. They'd make lousy poker players. "Sometimes it isn't good to tell everything."

"Truth," Drefsab said. "Again, I say truth."

"Drefsab, let me tell you a truth," Daniel said. "We have no intentions of attacking your world. We have no interests in it and no desire to conquer it. Why would we do that?"

"Because, it is Home."

Daniel sighed. He wasn't about to get into a circular argument. He let his and those of his people's actions do the talking for him. "Senior Secretary Drefsab 007," he said, his voice oozing with sarcasm, "we don't need Home. We have more than enough planets to live on or colonize."

"That may be a truth or it may not be one," the spy answered. "The Fleetlord and other members of the Race require proof, not just talk."

"Yes, I'm sure you do."

_**Mars:**_

Fleetlord Atvar's response to Shiplord Straha's and Senior Secretary Drefsab's reports had disturbed the Fleetlord and his fellow Shiplords to no end. The private conference was still raging an hour later when Ambassador Roberts announced that they were leaving.

"This discussion is not over," Atvar said. "Where are you going?"

Robert's told the Fleetlord. The Fleetlord's response to Ambassador Roberts' statement that the Tau'ri ship _Odyssey_ planned to head to Home was – passionate.

"I order you to stay away from Home!"

"Speaking to you is a waste of time," he told the reptile. "You do not have the authority to abandon this attack on my world. Therefore we will speak to someone that does have the authority."

"Explain what you mean, Ambassador Roberts," demanded Atvar.

"We're going to see the Emperor of Home and present our case to him and try to get him and your government to see reason. If he does not, then I have been instructed by the President of The United States of America and our allies to start the war at Home. This means that you, your conquest fleet, your colonization fleet, and your world along with your colonies will cease to exist in nuclear fire. Is that explanation enough?"

Atvar hissed in dismay before he could stop it. The sight of two Tau'ri warships in the distance ready to destroy the Conquest fleet at a moments' notice with the Race unable to strike back or even defend themselves was something that he could have never imagined his wildest nightmares. And the Tosevite or Tau'ri ships – whatever, were constantly moving around the orbiting fleet like small atmospheric fighter craft, frightening the radar monitors to no end. Straha's, Drefsab's reports supplemented by Tessrek's comments of their trip and some of their technological advances had horrified him and the rest of the Shiplords, and they had demanded that he do something, anything to remove the threat these aliens posed. And what was he supposed to do, fly away on a ship and personally attack every Tau'ri with his claws and teeth? Responding to this type of threat was not something that he would have possibly imagined himself doing a week earlier.

Oh, how he hated Tosev Three – and he hadn't even set foot on that miserable, cursed planet! If they had known what would happen, the Emperor would have smashed the planet sixteen hundred years ago. Now it was too late and Home was in extreme danger. These big uglies had technology that the Race had not. The Race had come to conquer Tosev Three but instead Home was threatened with conquest. Oh, how Race history books of the future – if any! – would revile his name, the only Fleetlord to fail at his mission and bring ruin to the Race.

"The Emperor will not believe what you would say to him. He knows that the natives of Tosev Three are primitives, not flying around in spaceships that defy the laws of common sense."

"Well, I have more faith in him than you," Robert's countered. "I believe that this spaceship will change his mind once he sees it. "Fleetlord, you sound as if you are reconsidering attacking and trying to conquer Earth," said the Ambassador

"What choice do I have? I believe that you will smash any attack we might try against you. We have encountered monsters and they are you. When you arrive at Home, the Emperor will turn his face against me for not carrying out his will."

"Then come with us to Home," suggested Roberts, "and plead your case to your leader."

"I will not become a hostage to the Tau'ri."

"You will not be a hostage," countered Roberts. "But you can possibly prevent a war."

"I must think about this."

"Our ship will leave in one hour, our time. We will keep Shiplord Straha and the others onboard and they will travel to Home with us. Choose before then."

Keeping Straha onboard their ship was like a kick to the Fleetlord's liver. Straha was sure to explain things to the Emperor and in doing so put the Fleetlord in the worst possible light. That could not be allowed to happen! "I will come to home with you Tosevite Tau'ri creatures," he hissed.

Roberts merely smiled.

So easy.

**(I hate fanfiction net for not allowing me to separate sections without going through all of these measures)**

_**The Race's quarters**_

It was humiliating that the aliens forced him to use the transportation device to come to this freezing ship, but on the other side of the tail it was a fascinating experience that again proved their power over the Race. The giant aliens with their dangerous looking weapons escorted him to a room that held two others of his kind. There Straha had not turned to face him as he, his superior, entered. That was a slight that the Fleetlord would remember.

"Shiplord Straha, have you lost all respect?"

To his chagrin, the Shiplord took a few seconds before he chose to answer. "I meant no disrespect," he said in a manner that made a lie to that statement. "I wonder what you will say to the Emperor." And again all of the members of the Race lowered their eye turrets out of respect. "It is not just you who have failed, but all of us will have failed in the eye-turrets of the Emperor. He sent soldiers to bring a new world to the embrace of the Race and what has happened? We return as failures on a ship that is filled with aliens who consider us weak."

"We have all failed," hissed Atvar. He was somewhat surprised by Straha's admission. "But I hold the responsibility of this failure firmly in my claws. The Emperor will slap my snout and turn his face away from me forever."

"It is possible," answered Straha all too gleefully. But then he sobered. "All of the Shiplords and crews of the Conquest fleet will suffer the same fate."

"No, the Emperor will only hold us responsible not the crews. He is civilized. And why is it so cold in here?"

"The big uglies in charge have said that the temperature in this room is warmer than normal. But I believe they lie when it comes to how much warmer it is. But I now understand why the Tosevites wear pieces of cloth. As we of the Race are doing now."

"Truth. And we should not call them big uglies, especially on their ship," the Fleetlord said. "A couple of pieces of cloth would be welcomed."

"They have provided such for which I am grateful. Here are yours." He hesitated for a second and then added, "oh, and Subleader Communications officer Erelwo hates you."

Atvar's mouth dropped opened as the worlds struck him. "What have I done to him? Tell me!" he demanded.

"He is in their medical station," said a thoroughly disgusted Straha. "He believes that you hate him because he has delivered only bad news to you since we have encountered these Tau'ri."

"Well he has! But, it is not his fault. It was his responsibility to tell me what was transmitted."

"He was not strong. He was not prepared to experience such deviations. None of us are."

"I will speak to him…" He felt something, a kind of tingling he couldn't identify. "What has happened?"

Atvar stared at the window that Straha eye turrets were attached to. No longer were there stars present but instead they were inside of a blue tunnel laced with white streaks.

"We are traveling faster than is possible in normal space, superior sir" answered the Shiplord. This transition was what I did not want to miss. This ship can exceed many times the speed of light by slipping into something they call hyperspace."

"How is this possible? How is any of this possible? Gravity, ships that can exceed the speed of light…how is any of this possible?"

"The Tosevites have not bothered to tell me how they achieve such a feat," Straha answered dryly. "Notice that we did not feel any acceleration."

"Again at the risk of repeating myself, this is impossible! Are we moving or is this a fabrication of some kind?"

"It is not a fabrication that any of us can detect, superior sir," said Drefsab. "They can do as they claim." He moved towards the Fleetlord and began instructing him on the use of the clothing.

"These strips are ugly," hissed the Shiplord. "I should have expected such. It does not show our ranks. How are they to tell which of us is which?"

"Apparently they can," Straha muttered. "However I still have trouble telling which Tosevite is speaking. I am forced to look at the color of the fur, or lack of fur on their heads, although this technique is not definitive."

"You speak an obvious truth," confirmed Drefsab.

"When will we arrive at Home?"

"Unknown at this time, Fleetlord. The Ambassador will arrive shortly to tell us our itinerary."

You have spoken of Subleader Communications officer Erelwo's incapacitation. However you have not spoken of the senior shuttle pilot."

Straha looked disgusted. "If our communication's officer is impaired with fear, our shuttle pilot is impaired with excitement. He is speaking to the Tosevite language officer Daniel Jackson and other pilots onboard this vessel. He wants to go to Tosev Three and purchase an apartment."

Atvar's mouth dropped open in shock. "And they are speaking to him?"

"The senior pilot talks too much but I think he has gained the friendship of some of the crew. He is most relaxed with them. Why this is, I do not know."

Atvar was silent for a moment. Then he began to laugh uncontrollably much to the other lizards' horror. "He may well be the only member of the Race to arrive unscathed to Tosev Three. This irony does not escape me."

**Mess Hall **

"Hello, my name is Senior Pilot Nignxe," the reptile said in halting English repeating the phrase Daniel had taught him. Because of the structure of his mouth, the words came out mushy, somewhat slurred, but recognizable. Daniel repeated the words in the language of the race in which they called 'the language of the Race'.

"Your accent is an insult to my ear membranes," Nignxe said in mock seriousness allowing the translator to resume its work. "But my speech must sound just as horrible. It is my hope that we will both improve."

"It is my hope as well," said Daniel. "I hope that war can be averted."

"War against you Tosevites would be an ugly affair. You have shown that your science is superior to ours. Many members of the Race will feel threatened because we have believed that we are the most advanced in the galaxy. Your very existence has proven us wrong. However I am sure that there will be many that will find your differences as exhilarating as I do. You tailless creatures have so many new ideas. The Race is not used to change. Rapid change is considered a curse by my species. But your species seem to embrace it."

Seated next to them was Teal'c. He remained silent as per usual; merely content to listen so far as Daniel patiently asked and answered questions.

"Senior language officer Daniel Jackson, I would like to taste some Tosevite food, but I am not sure if it is safe for me to eat any of your foods. Our medical technicians and specialists have not determined what is and is not safe. For example, that slice of meant is tempting but I do not know if I can eat it and survive the experience."

"That piece of meat you are referring to is called Salisbury steak," the Jaffa said. "It has an interesting flavor."

"May I try a small piece, Superior Warrior Sir?"

"I would suggest that Doctor Hadley be present before you partake of any Earth cuisine. I will contact her."

Five minutes later, the doctor arrived, half dragging Erelwo with her with a couple of guards tagging along as escort. The young lizard had panicked when the Fleetlord had tried to speak to him. Erelwo had a hissing fit that only increased to the point where he had to be removed from his superior's presence. Years of obedience and discipline had flown out of the preverbal window. Angered, Atvar said the one thing he shouldn't have.

"Leave me until you remember that you are a representative of the Race!"

Erelwo's hiss turned into a constricted gurgle and the lizard jumped up and tied to flee the medical bay. Two guards grabbed the hapless lizard and along with the doctor, restrained him as the disgusted Fleetlord was escorted out. With him gone and Erelwo calming down the doctor hustled the extremely depressed alien out of sickbay and brought him to the mess hall.

Nignxe lowered his eye-turrets in pity as his companion was hustled into the room. Erelwo was seated next to him and surprisingly he started to relaxed. Several Marines stood in the distance watching both aliens carefully. "As I have said," he continued speaking, "some of the members of the Race do not take change well. We are an ordered people used to doing the same things."

Nignxe loved the Salisbury steak – after he heaped four tablespoons of salt on top of the meat effectively coating it with the seasoning. 'It needed some real flavor' was his statement to a group of bemused human seated at the table. Erelwo ate a few bits of vegetables heavily flavored with as much salt as he could pour on them and spiced with lots of red pepper to give it a kick in the snout as Nignxe described it. So far, the aliens seemed to tolerate Earth-based food with little difficulty much to the cautious relief of the ship's doctor almost hovering over them. The dessert wasn't quite as pleasant more disturbing than anything else. It began with a cracker.

Salted crackers turned out to be a particular favorite for both of the lizardian aliens. Nignxe, eager to sample anything Tosevite-based attacked them with a flourish.

"I predict that these salted delights will become a favorite of the Race. They make the tongue tingle with pleasure with its combination of saltiness and uniquely-flavored blandness. And what is this?" he asked pointing to a small jar in front of him.

"Peanut butter," answered General O'Neill as he entered the mess hall. "Leave it alone."

Immediately every crew member stood up and saluted – as did the two members of the Race a second later to everyone's surprise. Teal'c, who merely nodded his head agreement, was surprised as well.

O'Neill waved them down and everyone continued what they were doing. As for himself he grabbed some blue jello and quickly sat down next to the small group. "Hey Teal'c, how's the jello on this ship?"

"I would not know, General O'Neill. But I have observed that it does not move in the same manner as the jello located at the SGC."

"Oh, that is not good."

"Indeed."

"I greet you, General O'Neill superior sir," Nignxe said.

"I greet you, General O'Neill superior sir," echoed Erelwo in a much more subdued voice.

"Greetings to you to Erelwo and Nignxe," O'Neill responded and was again surprised by the way both of the lizardians perked up at his acknowledgment of them. It also helped that the uniforms given them had slight but easily recognizable differences. The paint patterns covering the Race lizards really didn't matter since the temperature on the ship tended to discourage the aliens from running around naked. "Oh, and as much as I like it, you can drop the 'superior sir'."

"But we can not do that, superior sir," answered Erelwo.

"Truth," Nignxe confirmed. "You are the superior in command on this vessel. You have proven that you are the stronger than the members of the Race. the Fleetlord is here by your orders. We are therefore obedient to your authority."

"Explain this to me." O'Neill's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that since I am your superior in command, you will do everything I say?"

"We obey."

"Your leaders are here on this ship. Shouldn't you perhaps obey their orders?"

Both Lizardians lowered their heads as Nignxe answered the question. "You have proven that the Tosevites are superior in strength. The presence of the Fleetlord onboard confines this."

"Okay," said O'Neill. "I want to know how many soldiers, heavy military equipment, and atmospheric fighters you have on conquest fleet to attack Earth." He was being sarcastic and didn't expect an answer.

"You mean Tosev Three?"

"It's called Earth."

"Yes, Superior Sir. The name Earth will be used."

xxx

Nignxe then proceeded to tell them every thing he knew about the fleet with Erelwo adding a few details here and there, and in the process completely stunning the crew of the _Odyssey_.

"Can you believe this?" whispered Daniel while the aliens continued their tactical analysis. The aliens didn't have high-level security clearance but what they did know about their military was invaluable. "This is so wrong on so many levels that it's not even funny."

"Agreed, Daniel Jackson. I do not want to imagine what the Goa'uld would do with such slaves."

"Yes. That would be bad."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

This is the full chapter. Please enjoy:

_**Chapter Five**_

_**Odyssey-**__**Mess Hall**_

"May I ask a question, Superior Sir?" asked Nignxe.

O'Neill's answer was a slow and cautious, "yes."

"You Earth-Tosevites have developed quickly, in a preverbal flick of an eye turret. You are unrestrictive, progressive." And the way he said it did not sound like a compliment, more like a curse instead. "How is it that your species has not self-destructed?"

"We've had our problems, came close to it a couple of times, but we've managed well enough. Our kind doesn't like to stay still."

"This is an obvious truth. The Race believes in slow, measured steps. You people mutate like a virus."

They way the lizadian said it sound like a curse to the general. It made him smile. "I think we've been insulted," smirked an amused O'Neill.

"I mean no disrespect," a frightened Nignxe responded quickly. He really didn't want to unintentionally insult his hosts in any fashion. "It is that we've never seen such wonders. I do not know if the Race's culture could survive such rapid change. Nothing in our history has prepared us for such a revelation. I-I find it frightening, but I also find it exhilarating. Have you considered my request for an apartment?"

Daniel simply shook his head. That subject had been deemed a big no-no as in, 'I don't even want to think about it!'

"That might take some time," the General said. "We're, er, working on it. Maybe in a decade of two, depending on the politics."

"Thank you, Superior Sir," the Lizard responded in all seriousness.

Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow.

"Erelwo, how is your food?" asked Daniel.

Jack owed him one. A change in subject now was the best thing that could happen. Teal'c could barely get an apartment. In a few years, life would no doubt become very interesting on Earth.

"Alien," was the one word response. "It does not taste like Home," the communications specialist wailed. "Home is where my liver is. I should have never volunteered to leave Home." Then he abruptly changed subjects as his emotions pour out into the room. "The exalted Fleetlord, he hates me!"

"No, he does not," exhorted Nignxe. "He merely responds to the data that you relay to him. He respects those who tell him truth even if it is a truth he does not wish to hear. None of us expected to meet an industrialized culture more advanced than the Race. You respond like this because you did not expect such stress. "

"Your presumptions are correct," admitted his associate. "I should have chosen to become an atmospheric analyst instead. I would not have seen the wrath of the Fleetlord. Predicting changes in the weather on Tosev Three…"

"Earth."

"Earth… would have been easy and efficient."

"You were thinking of becoming a weather liz-person" asked O'Neill. It took real strength not to laugh. "And you consider that an easier job?"

"Yes, Superior Sir. Predicting the weather is a matter of computer analysis. I can not imagine an easier, less stressful job."

"Shall I explain to him of tornado season in Midwest America and the predictability of current weather patterns, General O'Neill?" whispered Teal'c.

"God, no."

_**The Race's quarters**_

"Exalted Superior, it is strange," Drefsab said. To humans, his voice sounded like as series of beeps and chirps mixed with a liberal amount of hisses thrown in. "The more I look at this space tunnel," he said referring to the hyperspace window, "the more it makes me want to stare at it. This is not a dream."

Atvar's jaw dropped as he let loose a small laugh. "How long have we been in transit?"

"About an hour, Fleetlord Sir. According to the Tovesite General, we should come out of this faster than light speed in a few of our minutes."

"To arrive at Home this quickly!"

There was a knock on the door which startled the three members of the Race. Ambassador Roberts and General O'Neill entered. One guard remained outside.

"We'll be at out destination in a few moments," Roberts told them.

"I do not believe that we have reached Home so quickly," Straha said. My mind can not wrap around such a concept."

"We're not at Home yet," Roberts said. "We've made a short detour to another planet. Come with us please."

"As if we had a choice," Straha hissed.

"No, you could say here onboard the _Odyssey_. But you'll never know firsthand what we're about to show you."

Atvar thought about it for a moment. The Tosevites had not hurt them in any way – other than to destroy them using psychological manipulation and intimidation – nothing that the Race would not have done. In fact they had been treated well considering the situation that they were in. And he wanted to see what evil plot that the Tosevites were planning to surprise them with. The more they tried the more he could understand and therefore resist their manipulations. "We will go with you, Ambassador."

"You'll love it, I promise," O'Neill told them.

"Tosevite humor mimics Tosevite physiology," Straha muttered. The comment caused the other Lizardians to laugh at the inside joke.

A few minutes later Fleetlord Atvar, Shiplord Straha, Drefsab and Tessrek entered a small room. They were accompanied by Ambassador Roberts, General O'Neill, Dr Jackson and Colonel Carter.

"We were told that we would travel to the surface. This is not the way to your shuttle bay," Drefsab announced. He was concerned for their safety and these Tosevites had proven themselves to be very unpredictable.

"We are going to the surface," O'Neill said. "Oh, and ah, stand here please."

The aliens did as they were told standing next to Daniel and Ambassador Roberts. O'Neill was by Straha's side smiling almost hysterically while he held his video camera at the ready. Sam watching his antics simply tried not to shake her head.

"The President's orders," he whispered to her and this time she tried not to roll her eyes.

"I do not see the purpose of this," Atvar hissed. "Why must we be so close to one another?" Being helpless in a Tosevite ship was bad enough but being this close to them frightened him on an instinctual level. Millions of years of genetic evolution was screaming 'predator' while his mind sought to fight against those feelings. "Is this some strange Tosevite ritual?"

"Yes, it is," the ambassador said. "But it's only for a moment."

"Activate," ordered the General.

There was one moment of intense blue-white light and the next – everything had changed.

_**NORAD**_

_**Local Space Defense and Orbital Telemetry Station**_

_**Cheyenne Mountain**_

"Sir, we're detecting energy bursts, two of them."

"Identify."

"Can't Sir, I don't recognize them we're putting them through the database Colonel Carter set up. Aahh, Christ..."

"Chief?"

"One of the ships just lost containment and blew up. The other one is in bad shape. Energy emissions are all over."

System probes should have detected them long before they appeared. "How did they get here? We didn't detect a hyperspace window."

"Point to point travel, Sir."

"Oh, God. It's the Colonials."

"Colonials?"

"Yes, Chief. They just finished a local war. The Brass thought that they wouldn't bother us for a while. What is this?" he asked. "Our system is getting too crowded with visitors."

Sir, readings don't match Colonial warships idents. Same FTL, but unknown configuration."

"Airman," Landry barked at one of the other on duty Airmen. "Make sure that the Lizardians are not doing anything stupid. Put the ships there on alert and have them move their ships to opposite orbit. We don't need whomever these people are discovering them if it's not too late already. Open communications to the new contacts. Try to talk to them. And keep me informed of any more developments."

Landry felt a huge headache coming on. The Lizards were little more than a nuisance and were contained and not a threat for the moment. In fact O'Neill and his people had things well in hand. They were headed to Home now to speak to the government there and put the fear of God into them. This new development was the last thing they needed right now. He headed to his office closed the door and picked up the phone.

"Yes, Sir, Mr. President. Two ships have just jumped into the system. One of them blew up and the other has been severely battle damaged. We've identified them as using the Colonial style FTL…. Yes, Mr. President, I have just been informed that we are in communication with them now." He listened for a moment. "The_ Ajax _will make direct contact if necessary. The _Apollo_ can handle the Race. They're perfectly content to orbit Mars for now. No problems at all….yes, Sir, the IOA is being informed of these developments. Thank you, Sir. First contact protocols are being be initiated – again."

All of the Tau Ceti aliens looked around, first confused, then completely stunned by what their senses were telling them. Forked tongues subconsciously flickered forward tasting the air. Gone was the stale recycled air of the enclosed ship. Instead hundreds of new scents assaulted their taste receptors and nasal cavities. Gravity pulled at their tail stumps. Eye turrets strained at the sights surrounding them trying to take in hundreds of sights in an instant.

They were on a world, an unknown one if the stars in the sky were correct. Three moons, and a ringed planet in the distance close enough to see individual striations in the rings. In the distance two stars, small suns really, one red and the other blue, were clearly seen with the naked eye turret.

There were deep green-bluish plants of every size and shape, enough to shock the senses. Strange – tiny things, flew back and forth making alien buzzing sounds. In the distance bizarre, terrifying screams echoed in the distance. It was an alien world, never seen before by any member of the Race. Each of the Lizards knew deep in their livers that what they were experiencing was real. It was a world full of frightening wildlife that no self respecting male would step claw upon without sufficient protection. This place was crowded with life. None of them liked it. However this wasn't foremost on the Fleetlord's mind.

"Instant transportation," hissed Atvar in wonder. "No need for shuttles!" He turned to O'Neill and his camera. "You have this maddening technology! How did you achieve this?" he had half-asked, half-demanded.

"I would be interested in knowing this as well," added Straha. "Our scientists have never conceived of such a device. It would be deemed impossible and we would have never looked at such a possibility again. "Yet you Tosevites manipulate matter and energy in such a casual manner. Have you considered the dangers of such technology?"

"Yes, we have," Roberts said.

"And we're still learning about it," Colonel Carter added. "But it is a matured technology.

Drefsab scoffed at the word _mature_. "Mature means hundreds even thousands of years to the Race, not a few Tosevite years. "You aliens rush to create things that could easily destroy your world. Do you not fear using such advances so quickly?"

"There is concern, yes," Daniel said. "But sometimes we're not given a choice."

"A most interesting argument," Atvar said. "But it is a discussion for another time." His lower jaw almost dropped in laughter. There had been so many surprises lately that he seemed to be becoming immune to it. Whether that was surprisingly good or horrifyingly bad, he couldn't tell. "I would like to know where we are."

"We are seven hundred light years from Earth," O'Neill told them, "on a moon orbiting a gas giant. This world is not our final destination."

"Then why are we here, General leader?" asked Drefsab. "Is this some sort of proof that you can do what you have claimed with the speed that you can travel?"

"No," Jack answered. "We wanted you to see that thing over there."

The lizards turned and stared at the round ornate circle-like structure about fifty meters in front of them. The strange object apparently had an inner ring built inside the outer one.

"You brought us seven hundred light years from Home and Tosev Three to this place to stare at a piece of badly designed art?" asked Atvar.

The General laughed loudly. "Beauty is in the eye, or in your case eye turret, of the beholder. Come on, we want to introduce you to something."

The lizardian hopped and skittered over the dense brush rather than walked following the much larger Humans. After the short walk, they stopped in front of the strange structure. Drefsab had noticed that the surrounding plant life had been cleared from around the structure and the small piece in front of it. But the question on his mind was why were their stairs leading up to the circular structure?

The General nodded to Daniel while he again activated his vid-camera.

"You wanted to know how we traveled to so many worlds," he said facing the Shiplord and Fleetlord. "This is the way."

Carter began touching the symbols on the DHD device. Nignxe, Tessrek, and Drefsab were close by watching her every action intently. Each time she touched one of the symbols, that symbol lit up. The inner circle of the strange device begin to move and by the time the female Tosevite had touched the fifth icon, the lizards could feel whole area started softly vibrating with incredible power. Another icon was touched. Carter then touched the large red button in the center of the mushroomed shaped device and…

It was like nothing Straha or the rest of his group had ever seen. The inside of the device changed nothing into a watery type of bluish energy. That energy had literally exploded outwards and then contracted into what looked like a vertical pool of water suspended vertically inside the circle.

"What in the name of all of the Emperors' past is this?" he whispered. He didn't care if the others had heard him or not. He was entranced by the spectacle in front of him. His forked tongue flickered out of its own accord trying to taste what was before him. "Samantha Carter, General O'Neill. What is this mystery?"

"It is called a stargate," Carter answered, basically answering nothing.

"If you want answers, then follow me," Ambassador Roberts told him. "The first time is always the best." He stepped into the watery energy and disappeared.

A few seconds later a terrified Atvar took a deep breath and followed. He disappeared. An excited Nignxe followed immediately glad for the chance to experience something new. The other lizards followed. Only Straha and the General were left.

O'Neill put on his sunglasses. "Shiplord, after you."

"You are insane if you think I am going to follow you into that thing."

"Are you afraid?"

"Yes!" Straha hissed. "Explain this!"

"The stargate can transport us to another world instantly by use of what we can a wormhole. This wormhome is a tunnel in space that allows us to instantly travel from one world to another instantly. We're going to a world that you will find rather nice."

"Through that?" The explanation had made little sense to him but it did hint at something never before thought of by the Race. "Should I trust you and simply step through this, this creation?"

"Yes. Look Fleetlord, have we ever harmed you?"

"Physically, no you have not and for that I thank you. Emotionally, you have wreaked the finest members of the Race with your mere existence." His mind was racing. How could the Race be so far behind these ugly-looking Tosevites? And what did this mean for the survival of the Race? "Your presence has destroyed us."

"No we haven't. Come with me, Fleetlord. We don't have to fight each other. Trust me and we will both fight to keep our people from going to war."

Despite severe reservations, Straha slowly stepped through the gate…

"…And arrived on a new world.

Atvar's mind could had never imagined anything close to this. This world was clearly not home. But it '_was'_ home. The heat and brightness of the unnamed sun was wonderful, especially after experiencing the curse of Tosevite air-conditioning. As far as the eye turrets could see, the whole area was filled with black-colored sand. Dozens of hills could be seen in the distance and there were creatures here, similar to those at Home. It looked like paradise.

They had left that green plant-filled miserable planet and come to paradise. He turned just in time to see Straha and the Tosevite General exit the stargate just as it turned itself off. There was no denying this. Seeing and experiencing was – believing. The Race had no chance against these aliens. But on the other side of the tongue they were here. This magnificent world underneath his feet….

The stargate activated once more and a small ship exited the wormhole. The puddle jumper settled down a short distance away from the gate. Senior Shuttlepilot Nignxe excitedly followed Colonel Carter to the ship while the ambassador continued their discussion about the world they were now on.

_**PWX 124:**_

They spent two days exploring the alien landscape. Overall, the Tau Cetians were very pleased with the preliminary observations.

Told ya, you'd love it," the leader of the Tosevites said in a very smug tone. "This planet had been abandoned by whatever group of miners that had been settled here almost a thousand years ago. It has three medium-sized salt water oceans and two fresh water seas. But most of the planet is rather sparse, lots of sand and wild life and quite a few desert-type plants. No one has a claim to this planet and if you want it, it's yours. That's the good news."

Atvar and the others stopped what they were doing and locked onto the Tosevite General. "You statement implies that there is bad news," said Atvar. "I want to know what that news is."

"It's two thousand light years from your homeworld."

Atvar deflated. "This is too far for our people to travel." He froze as realization slapped his snout. There was no movement from him for a moment. He might have been imitating a statue. "Are you saying that you will order members of the Race to us that…that stargate thing to travel here?" he finally asked.

"That is one possibility."

"No, it is not possible. The Race will require at least twenty years of detailed observations and study before we will determine that this planet is fit for the Race. We cannot make a quick judgment as you big – Tosevites seem to do with a snap of the claws."

"Let me make this clear, Fleetlord," Roberts told him. "You don't have a choice, or rather; you 'do' have a choice. I have been instructed to tell you by the leaders of my government that the colony ships will not be allowed to come near Earth. They can return home, come here and start a new colony, or we will destroy them all and then eliminate your conquest fleet. Is that what you want?"

"It is apparent that you have no wish to destroy us," Atvar said. "You are in control of the situation I have found ourselves in. However such a change in plans would require the decision of the Emperor."

"I understand the position your find yourself in Fleetlord. However, as you are in a weaker position, you have no choice in the matter. Your colony fleet, barely six months out from home has been diverted here. Two of our ships have used our FTL drives to divert the first of your colony ships here. They are about a year out, Earth year, that is, as the crow flies," he added knowing that they would have fits trying to figure out what that phrase meant.

Atvar and Straha were about to scream in their mutual outrage before they were cut off by the ambassador as he continued to speak. "Within the next three days, all of the colony ships will have been shuttled here. Once your ship's systems realized that they were off course, your computers automatically began waking up essential personnel to deal with the problem. We're leaving them far enough from this world so that the crews will have time to prepare. I would suggest that you talk to them and make them aware of your situation.

"How dare you barbarians divert ships of the Race!"

"It was your decision to try to conquer us. We are trying to minimize loss of life and this is our decision."

"But decisions like these must be considered carefully before action is taken," Drefsab hissed. How dare you take this choice from us!"

"Truth," the Fleetlord said. "You cannot dictate to us. You have no right to do such a thing!"

"When you invaded our star system then you lost your right to complain how we treat you. We have been respectable but we are also firm in our resolve. Your military fleet will be diverted here. If they resist, our ships are authorized to destroy them. On the other side of the proverbial claw this world being freely given, offers a good alternative to war."

"Truth," answered Atvar after a few seconds. And it was truth mixed with mercy. He would have never even considered such an offer if he were in the Tosevites repulsive-looking sandals. That this was a magnificent world, very close to home was not in dispute. "But this is not my choice to make."

"That's why we made it for you. We want peace with the Race."

"If you choose to stay here, what will you call it, Home Two?" O'Neill asked Straha.

"It is a most logical name," Straha answered. "It very much reminds me of Home. And it will sound better than Dirt Two."

"That's Earth, not dirt."

"It is the same meaning," Straha laughed. "And it is apparent that you understood the reference."

O'Neill looked at him. There was a sense of humor lurking inside that cold reptilian heart somewhere. That was interesting and hopeful.

"These are some of the rules. You will abandon plans to conquer Earth or as you call it, Tosev. You will not be allowed to use the stargate for outgoing missions. Because of the distance we will place two satellites that will allow instantaneous real time hyperspace communications between yourselves and Tau Ceti II you will remain in contact with Home and the government there. Do you understand these conditions?"

"You mean demands," corrected Atvar sourly.

"Demands," agreed the Ambassador. "Do you understand them?"

"Yes, I understand them."

"Good," Roberts responded. "Then, we're homeward bound."

The puddle jumper now carrying passengers headed for the stargate. The pilot transmitted the signal and the stargate opened. A few seconds later the small vessel headed towards the _Odyssey_ and Home.

_**Home-minus thirty-six minutes:**_

"I did not expect to see Home so soon after waking up, Superior Sir," Drefsab said quietly."

"None of us have considered this possibility, but we now all acknowledge it as reality, however much it displeases us," Shiplord Straha answered. "But beneath this proverbial sandstorm lies a new world freely given to us." His tail stump quivered, a sign that he was amused for the moment. "Well," he admitted, "not free, but not with the loss of the conquest fleet than never conquered anything."

Both eyestalks from all of the other members of the Race present glared at him for the seeming insult. "We know the truth!" Atvar said. Better to know it rather than have tens of thousands of the Race to die in a war we cannot win. And I have not forgotten about the colonization fleet. Yes," he continued. "There is a danger, a great danger. But there is also an opportunity."

"I am surprised, exalted Fleetlord," said the Shiplord. "I believed that you would not change your mindset despite what we had seen."

"I am not as 'liberal' as you are, Shiplord. There is a part of me that wants to destroy these Tosevites, remover their threat to the Race and never, ever think of them again while I hide at Home. But reality has also shown me an unspoiled world that could serve the Race perfectly. We've been shown power beyond our understanding. I see that they are trying not to destroy us. However distasteful this truth is, I will look it directly with both turrets and grasp it tightly with my claws."

"That is – very forward thinking, Fleetlord," confessed Straha. "I did not think it possible."

'_If I were less civilized, I would bite you to death right now, Straha._' What he said was, "That is why I was chosen to be Fleetlord, and you were not. Now, I ask for your input as I finish this report."

_**Bridge-Odyssey**_

Fleetlord or not, Atvar was nervous as they approached Home. He was terrified of the Race's reaction upon seeing a Tosevite alien, correction a Tau'ri Earth ship, coming from out of nowhere right into the middle of space traffic.

Home system was crowded with ships. Epsilon Eridani Two and Epsilon Indi One had been conquered and civilized long ago and all three groups sent ships back and forth to the worlds of Halless One and the Rabotevs. But the Race did not have many patrol ships. In fact, only four had been built and once it was discovered that there were no outside threats, those ships had been removed from service. Atvar's lower jaw opened in amusement. The Race would come to regret that decision very shortly.

There was a subtle shift in the fabric of space and the Tau'ri earth ship was in Home space heading towards Home at incredible but slower than light speed. Communications had intercepted hundreds of communications as the orbital traffic station, well over three miles wide, maintained order among the hundreds of vessels inside the system. It took all of twenty seconds before there was dead silence. No one, not in the ships or at main communications had spoken a word. It had taken that long for the Race's sub-light radars to detect the huge distortion characteristic of a ship exiting hyperspace.

Ten seconds later, the communications board was almost overwhelmed as everyone started talking at once.

"…_Was that an explosion?"_

"…_By the Emperor! It was my belief that something blew up but there is an object heading in our direction. Its coordinates are…"_

"…_It's moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light."_

"…_It's slowing down!"_

"…_The object just went past us! It is moving too fast for us to see clearly. But it may be a ship!"_

"…_Impossible!"_

"_...It's true, you rotten egg-laying Member of the Race! We know what we saw."_

"…_I suspect you believe you think you did. However you are only a Rabotev."_

"…_May your miserable excuse for a tail stump develop the Itch."_

"…_Those insults are unprofessional, _Legarras Three_. You will refrain from insulting myself or any other member of the Race."_

"…_You are a useless example for a traffic manager. You should go to Home and learn how to raise vermots."_

"…_This is the_ Grautevs. _It is a ship! It is heading towards Home!"_

"_Unknown ship…unknown ship. Please identify yourself. Can you understand us? Can you understand the language of the Race?"_

"We've got their attention, Ambassador, Communications are open.

"This is Ambassador Christopher Roberts, representative of the Planet Earth located in the Sol star system sending greetings to the inhabitants of Tau Ceti II."

A few minutes later: _"It is good that you speak the language of the Race. We are unaware such a world or a solar system call by that name. And our world is called Home and we are called the Race."_

"Your people call our planet Tosev Three. You sent an invasion fleet to try and bring our world into the Empire. It failed. We have come to address the situation."

"_Tosev Three has no technology advanced enough lift themselves into their own atmosphere. You are therefore lying,"_ finished the lizard.

"By order of the Fleetlord Atvar, your conquest fleet is now orbiting the fourth planet of the Sol system, or as you call it the Tosev system. If they approach Earth, they will be destroyed. Thousands of your race will die and they will never place a clawhold on our planet. We're here to try to prevent a war."

"_Whoever you are, you can not defeat the Race. We are the superior power in the universe."_ The lizard communicator finished apparently satisfied with his response."

Atvar pointed towards Roberts and requested the microphone. The Ambassador gave it to him.

'This is Fleetlord Atvar on the Tau'ri ship _Odyssey_," he said in his own language. "I will speak to the High lord now, or there will be war. My identification code is now being transmitted." The leader lizardian identified himself using the established protocols.

A few moments later: _"The identification code is correct. However, you cannot be Fleetlord Atvar. He is with the Conquest fleet many light years distant. Therefore the identification code must be a forgery."_

"Identify yourself so that when you expire all of the Emperors past will curse you forever for your stupidity."

"_I am Senior Communications Officer Roynwlo, commanding officer of all space traffic in orbit around Home,"_ he responded, somewhat nervously_. "If you are the exalted Fleetlord, then why are you here at Home?"_

"That is none of your concern, Senior Communications Officer Roynwlo. I demand to speak to one of the Royal family before one of Home's cities burns as a result of a strike of a high-yield explosive metal bomb."

"_I find it highly unlikely that…"_ and Atvar had found someone else he wanted to bite to death due to stupidity_, "…that could ever happen. You will wait and prepare for boarding by members of the Race. We shall determine the truth."_

All of this was being transmitted over an open channel. And hundreds of aliens, the Race, Rabotov and the Hallessi; all three species were utterly silent as they listened to the transmissions.

A stunned and embarrassed Atvar handed the microphone back to the Human. By the way his tail was twitching some poor lizard would be in a world of hurt when he got his claws on him.

"Any attempt to board or attack this vessel will be consider an act of war," Roberts said. "I have been authorized to use whatever is necessary to speak to your leadership. If I do not, then I will order the conquest fleet and colonization fleet destroyed. We will then bomb your world."

"_You wouldn't dare to do such a thing!"_

A beam of pure energy lashed out, missing the massive space station by mere meters, but close enough to shake the entire station. The near miss incinerated protective outer armor and decompressed several decks. Seconds later, there was absolute chaos over communications as those who witnessed the near miss rapidly told others what had happened. Some ship's captains panicked, trying to get away from the _Odyssey_ as quickly as they could without damaging their own ships.

"_I will find a leader for you to speak to!"_ exclaimed a now terrified and properly chastened Roynwlo.

Official communications across the board exploded as well. None of them had seen such a weapon, similar to a laser but not. To most of them, the beam was pure death and they wanted nothing to do with it.

"_Told you he was a rotten-egg layer. Now he has proven that he is as addled as he is incompetent,"_ announced the same _Rabotev _alien captain with more than a bit of satisfaction as his vessel continued its fifteen year journey to Rabotev I.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Thanks to RenS for some editing corrections. _**

**_Thanks to Ash's Boomstick for contributions related to his story RAAB out now. Again if you notice some similarities that's because they are...Call it a mirror crossover between the two.  
_**

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Earth System:**_

_**Cylon Baseship**_

_**Number One-One-Seven**_

"The warship doesn't look very intimidating, does it?" an Eight said, looking at the screen as the small Earth vessel moved closer to the all but ruined Cylon Basestar.

"It barely registers on DRADIS," a sister Eight said. She was frowning. "Something's wrong. The scans are being scattered. But their energy readings are much higher than they should be for a ship this size, but I can't get any details."

"Wait a moment; I'm picking up something else orbiting the fourth planet. It's a number of large ships, bigger than anything I've seen before. I'm going to high resolution scan…"

"No, don't!" the second Eight said. This particular Eight, one of less than a hundred of her line of Humaniform Cylons left after the spectacular defeat of the Cylon armada, was very apprehensive. The Baseship had almost no defensive armaments left, only a dozen or so nuclear missiles. Parts of their ship were opened to space, a result of a Colonial capital strike that they had not been able to repair. Fuel was almost gone and a grand total of three Raiders and eleven mech-cylons were left after the desperate year and a half long flight to reach the earth system. "It might provoke them. Just open a channel."

The Colonials had discovered Cylon plans for a preemptive strike against them almost four years earlier. No one knew how the Colonials had discovered the truth until a model Six infiltration unit finally woke up in a recovery tank. The blond female had resurrected screaming. The things that the Colonial military had done to her…

The fact that she was a little insane and extremely paranoid and hate-filled was perfectly understandable. Her target, Gaius Baltar, had played her for several months and then betrayed her. Between the various drugs, interrogation techniques and constant abuse, it took three months before she was completely broken. The military had kept her alive for almost a year interrogating her and despite her superior physiology; she eventually had told them everything.

The Empire was caught unawares as over four hundred Colonial Battlestars of various classes, accompanied by their support ships hit them with everything they had. The Cylons didn't have a chance. Their two worlds were turned into radioactive piles of waste, the central hub erased from existance. All of the original mechanical Cylons were destroyed. The newer Humaniforms were almost completely wiped out. Of a total of three-hundred fifty capital ships, four survived, three Basestars of the newer design and one resurrection ship. The survivors did the only thing they could do. They grabbed what they could and fled. The irony of what had happened hadn't been lost to them. The question became _'where to go'_?

The Colonials were somehow able to track them and constant attacks over the months had cause the loss of two of the warships. The other was severely damaged and in desperate need of repair.

Alone, desperate, with resources becoming critical, survival seemed less and less likely. The surviving models came together when a most unusual suggestion had been offered by a number Three.

"We should go to Earth," she announced to a horrified group of survivors. Surprisingly they didn't kill her for offering that suggestion. "There is nowhere else," she had told them. She then reminded the others of the First Contact with the Earthers and the Colonials years earlier. A ship called the _Prometheus, _a design much like the one facing them now, had blasted their way away from Caprica, damaging a small Colonial cruiser in the process and had escaped during what was being termed a first contact with the Humans of Earth. The President had railed against the Earthers who called themselves 'the Tau'ri', for months afterwards. Their belief in one god had not gone over well with either the religious or political figures of the time. The fact that they had gotten past the blockade with such an underpowered ship had aggravated the military.

"They're Humans!" a number Eight practically screamed. "Why would they help us?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" another Three suggested.

"No," a Five said. "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, nothing more, nothing less."

"You're both wrong," countered a Cavil model. "All Humans are alike. This enemy of my enemy is my enemy, nothing more and certainly nothing less."

"You can't be sure of that," countered a number Five. "You're letting your hatred of Humanity cloud your judgment. This may be the last opportunity that we have to save what's left of our race. If that is true, and I'm certain that it is, then we should go to see the enemy of our enemy and find out if they are our enemy as well, or our friend – maybe, or at least not a threat, too."

"This is ridiculous," the first Three said. "God said we would live on Earth with our parents."

"God didn't say that exactly and you know it," a Six said. "But that is the point of this discussion, isn't it? The debate is over. We don't have a choice."

"Are we agreed?" the Six asked once more. All of the survivors nodded, although it was clear that some were not enthusiastic about the decision. "We tell them the truth and at the first sign of danger, we run?"

"We can't go there!" announced the terrified Six. "You don't know what they will do to us!

"Let's talk to them first," another Six said to her sister. "These are not the Humans that did those things to you."

"They're Humans. They are monsters."

"Maybe they are," the Three conceded. "But for now, they are our only hope."

"This is wrong! We'll all regret this!"

"If they are monsters, then they will finally be exposed for what they all are. We will finally know the truth. But maybe they're not and that is why we have no choice but to find out."

**-+-**

'_Bozhemoi!'_ was the first thought that entered the mind of captain of the Daedalus-class vessel _Zhukov. _The ship was a wreck. Burn marks, holes visible enough to be seen from a distance, and physical warping of the hull bore stark testimony to the battles that ship had seen. The other vessel didn't look much better. There were few little evidences of damage but for some reason it seemed as if it was lifeless. That was the only word he could use to describe it. "This is Captain Gromky of the Homeworld security defense corps. You have violated sovereign territories. State your intentions."

Immediately an image appeared and once more the captain was shocked. These aliens had seen death. They looked like the starving refugees of Sudan. They had that same haunted look as his people had in the Siberian wastelands of the forties and fifties. They were so thin; he could see their bone structure beneath their sagging skin. And their eyes…

"_We are the last of our people,"_ the oriental-looking female said. _"We are fleeing from a war we lost. We are asking for sanctuary, temporary sanctuary,"_ she amended, _"from our enemies. We are Cylons and we running with our rag tag fleet of two ships, fleeing from Colonial tyranny on the last Basestar to Earth, our only hope."_

"Bozhemoi." He whispered the word this time. It was interesting that they spoke the same language as the Colonials according to the translator. "Do not power up your weapons or star drive," he threatened. "I will contact my superiors for further instructions. Stand by." He cut the transmission. "Contact Homeworld Security Command. And" he added, "prepare to transport Humanitarian aid to these people."

His first officer moved closer. "Those people are starving to death. Do you think that the IOA will help them?"

"Stalin once said," and the captain looked around. That much hated and greatly feared name still invoked terror and the man had been dead for decades, "the enemy of my enemy is someone I can exploit. But, I hope that the IOA approves. How can we be protectors of the Planets treaty if we turn away refugees who show up on our doorstep? Atlantis runs into this problem al of the time. In this case maybe we should follow their example." He looked at his First Officer and then the entire bridge crew. "One act of random kindness." He shrugged. "What can I say?"

_**Home:**_

The _Odyssey_ took its time as it settled into close orbit around the homeworld of the Race. The almost stylish parking was done slowly and purposefully, giving onlookers a full and carefully calculated view of the, to them, alien spaceship. The ease in which it was done had the desired effect. Other ships in orbit relocated to a safe distance as no one wanted to be within shooting distance of these obviously dangerous aliens. The usual level of standard communication had gone mostly silent as shock and awe overtook the entire planet. Two small patrol craft gingerly approached the _Odyssey_ but kept a respectful distance.

Point in fact; the Race didn't have any concept of a space navy. There had been no war among the Race for over a hundred thousand of their years and as a unified and peaceful world there hadn't been a need for star-spanning warships. There were no outside threats, no fear of other species coming to Home in the last sixty thousand of their years. Home, in the form of the Empire, went to other worlds and conquered.

No one came to Home.

Never.

Well, things had changed.

Now Home's whole view of the universe had just changed for the worse. They were no longer alone searching out others. Now someone had found them and they happened to be neighbors. Manifest destiny, the belief of the superiority of the Race, had just been dealt a severe blow as an alien ship essentially took over the skies of Home.

"_Alien spaceship,"_ said the same lizard that had spoken earlier_. "Someone in authority will come to speak to you. You will wait until he arrives."_

"I suggest that you tell whoever it is to come quickly. My patience is running out."

"_It shall be done."_

The communication was cut.

A few minutes later there was another voice, one with far more confidence and authority speaking.

"_I now speak to Ambassador Christopher Roberts as the High leader Ssumaz Ryssan speaking on behalf of the 36th Emperor to bear the name Runshan,"_ and there was a brief instance of silence, _"and on behalf of Home. Who are you and why have you dared to threaten the Race?"  
_

"We come from the planet Earth in the Sol system. By the actions of your Emperor and his conquest fleet our worlds exists in a state of war. By the actions of your Emperor you have tried to take over a free and independent world by force.

"_Am I to understand that you are from the Tosev system?"_

"Yes, we are."

"_That is impossible. The Tosevites are a primitive species, not capable of producing ships that can move between the stars. They have not discovered electronics. They are a primitive, uncivilized species. In the name of the Emperor, identify yourselves. If you do not, then this communication is over. You have threatened the Race and are therefore are considered an enemy of the Race." _

Roberts expected this reaction. Both the General and the Ambassador had discussed that very scenario at some length.

"More gunboat diplomacy?" asked O'Neill.

"More gunboat diplomacy," confirmed Roberts. He turned back to the communication's board. "By the actions of the people of Earth also called the Tau'ri, your conquest fleet has been neutralized. Your colonization fleet has been re-routed and is effectively stranded another part of space. All of this has been done without the loss of life. The leaders of my world wish to keep the loss of life on both sides to a minimum. We have come to Tau Ceti II in order to strike a peace accord between the members of Humanity and the Race to prevent the destruction or possible extinction of your species. High Leader Ssumaz Ryssann, you leave me with little choice. We have faster-than-light communications and can contact Earth instantaneously," he said waiting for a moment to allow the translator to complete its job. "I will instruct our government that you are uninterested in peaceful contact and uninterested in the loss of life of the people of the Race. They in turn will give the orders to will destroy the conquest fleet. We will then destroy the colonization fleet. The crews and the settlers that dared to attack and conquer Earth will be destroyed. As I speak, your cities are being targeted. If you wish us to be enemies, then you will have reason to fear us as enemies." The moment Roberts finished the _Odyssey_ fired an Asgard beam weapon into a relatively deserted area on the Home. The low-powered beam punched a small crater, evidence for all to see. It was the second shot fired in irritation, not anger. Not yet.

It took about five minutes before the report of the destruction had gotten back to the palace. The reaction was as predicted.

"Wait!" yelled the High Leader. "By the Emperor's command, we will consider discussions with you strange beings from another world

"Fleetlord Atvar has prepared a report for your Emperor. I suggest you read it quickly."

_**One Hour Later:**_

High Leader Ssumaz Ryssann, a mature lizard still spry enough to move fast when it was necessary, skittered quickly into the hallway of Emperors. He stopped as three female members of the Race approached him. There was nothing he could do but wait as the three carefully inspected his paint for any imperfections. One of the old females spotted a small smudge near the terminal point of his tail. She grabbed it and scrubbed off the offending smudge with a porous rock. The other quickly repainted that part of his tail to perfection as not to offend the emperor. Ryssann endured without comment as the three did their jobs. When they finished he was ushered into the presence of the 36th emperor to bear the name Runshan. As chief adviser it had been his responsibility to tell the young Emperor the news that Home had been invaded by things from another world.

Emperor Runshan was surrounded by most of the royal court. Each of the members was decorated in their respective paints detailing their rank and status. As royal adviser, his paint was less ornate than the royal court but only just.

Quickly as he could, he skittered, in a respectable manner, into the Emperor's presence. As per custom, he lowered his eye turrets in the presence of the Emperor and waited for him to speak.

"Enough!" the Emperor hissed in irritation. "There is no time to observe protocols. Where is it? Have you read the report?" Runshan asked without preamble.

"Yes, my Emperor. It seems impossible," Ryssann stuttered. He had never seen the young ruler in such an irritable state. "Fleetlord Atvar must be addled to have compiled such a report. Or he must be under duress."

"The presence of the Tosevite ship, if that is really what it is, in orbit around Home and their attack on our planet, speaks in defense of the Fleetlord's report' concluded Runshan. "The conquest fleet captured. The colonization fleet in danger of destruction by a not-empire as the Fleetlord describes them, may or may not be truth. We have no way to confirm if this is truth or deception."

"The Fleetlord is on the Tosevite or Tau'ri ship," said Ssumaz Gradell. "Demand his presence before the court to explain this disaster!"

Runshan gave the order. "Contact the ship and demand the Fleetlord's presence at this court."

Ryssann hastened to obey but suddenly stopped. He turned slowly and dipped his head in abject submission. That action gave him a couple of seconds respite before he was forced to ask a dreaded question. "My Emperor, what if they say 'no'?"

"He is the Emperor," announced Gradell. "They will do as he commands."

It was good that Gradell had not been chosen Emperor thought Ryssann. It was, truth be told, unthinkable but in the last few hours, many things previously unthinkable had been thrust into the foreground of everyone's mind. "What if they do not acknowledge the Emperor's authority and they refuse?" he repeated a bit more eloquently.

"The Emperor will then force them to obey," Gradell finished thereby throwing the problem back to the Emperor, a position he coveted. "They must be made to understand that the Race is strong and will take the necessary steps to make them acknowledge the Emperor's will."

"And what will I tell them if they say 'no' and decide to turn the palace into a crater as they did a small portion of the desert?"

"Enough!" shouted Runshan. "Never has any emperor since the founding of the Empire been placed in such a precarious position! We have no defenses to protect us from the Tosevites and their weapons. I have no desire to see the palace and a significant part of the city destroyed. Request that the Fleetlord be allowed to meet with us."

The entire court was stunned into silence. Emperors demanded, they ordered, they commanded. They never 'requested'.

Ryssann was more than happy with the request. "It shall be done."

"Ryssann?"

"Yes, my Emperor?"

"After you perform your duty, inform my scientists and engineers to prepare and develop a planetary defense system so that this may never happen again."

"Yes, my Emperor."

_**Odyssey:**_

"We are ready," Atvar said. He frowned. Why was it that the General insisted on taking their images before they left? Didn't he understand that the sheer terror he and Straha were feeling would be reflected in the image?

"Smile please."

"We do not smile," Atvar answered.

"Send us down."

Atvar prepared to scream but it was over before he could draw breath. Fleetlord Atvar had closed its eyes as tightly as he could, dreading the coming experience. The transport device was terrifying, even if painless, but he would have preferred to use the shuttle. He wasn't given a choice he thought as he joined, General O'Neill, Shiplord Straha, Ambassador Roberts, and the linguist Daniel Jackson, all who would be with him when he met with his Emperor. The uproar that aliens would enter the presence of the Emperor would have been amusing if it hadn't been so disturbing on so many levels. Who knew what kind of weapons these creatures had hidden on their person? Why couldn't they paint themselves like civilized creatures? Who knew what they would say? Would the Emperor turn his eye turrets away from Straha and himself forever? Would they be banned from his presence forever?

He had no answers to those questions. The only comfort he might receive ever again would be the sight that greeted them as the Humans materialized in front of the royal court. He was sure that the Three would be horrified that they would not be allowed to strip off and repaint the Shiplord and himself as such a break in protocol would be unimaginable.

He was surprised that Roberts allowed them that protocol before they entered the presence of the Emperor. Apparently there was a lot to learn about being an ambassador. How could the ambassador allow his ship to fire on home one moment and allow the time for the three to properly repaint he and Straha? These aliens at times were most confusing. He was honored by the consideration but there had been one consolation with the discomfort experiences by the Tosevites. Those sights would remain with his liver forever…

O'Neill was not amused at setting foot on yet another desert world. Abydos had been bad enough. PWX 124 made Abydos feel like its twin. Home felt like he had just stepped into a toaster oven set on medium. But it was weirdly beautiful, extremely alien, and a breath of fresh air. Unlike so many worlds where Humans dominated, this world was design by non-Humans. The majority of the buildings had an ancient feel to them, which made sense since some of them were over four thousand years old according to the Shiplord. He would have liked it more if the lizards of Home hadn't ran away screaming – or hissing in their cases – when they materialized a short distance from the palace. Still, he could understand the reasoning.

He looked around. "I guess they had somewhere to go," he suggested while looking around at the scenery. "Look, no trees."

Daniel simply glared at him, knowing that his friend had planned to use that statement the moment that he stepped on the transport pad. Atvar had looked somewhat embarrassed, if he understood the body language correctly. What he wasn't prepared for was Shiplord Straha's response.

"Big ugly, what did you expect?" Then Straha began laughing. "Coming to Home in such an unusual manner should have frightened them. And looking at you cloth-wearing creatures would naturally give them nightmares."

"I'm glad you're finding this funny you Picasso looking little piece of luggage," he countered. Back on what was tentatively being called Home II. Picasso had to be explained earlier. When Straha had been shown an example of the artwork of said artist, the Shiplord said commented that only Tosevite brains could create such hideous chaos and dare to call it art. Then he asked had been insane when he created it, to which no Human and respond. Then he asked whether he had been insane when he created. That no one responded was answer enough for Straha."

To Straha it was answer enough. "You should be glad that we didn't decide to transport directly into the throne room instead of out here."

Daniel rolled his eyes. Those two were at it once more. Since PWX 124, both of them had been enjoying learning how to insult one another and were doing pretty good. 'Big ugly' and 'mini-luggage' had become the insults of choice.

Atvar's tail twitched irritably. "The fate of the people of Home lies in the balance. I ask that you restrain yourself, General O'Neill. Please do not refer to the Emperor as a form of baggage. Shiplord Straha, remember your status. Do not refer to the Tosevites as big uglies, even if it is a truth that cannot be denied."

"I'm impressed, Atvar," smirked O'Neill. "You said that with a straight, lizard look. It almost sounded like a retort with a bit of humor attached."

"When surrounded by the enemy with no place to retreat, I find I must adapt."

"I see you've been listening to Daniel," the General replied. The comment was full of good humor.

Roberts wasn't as amused. "General, Fleetlord and Shiplord. I ask you to please restrain from using comments that may well start a shooting war. The situation is already tense."

"You have already fired at us," replied a bitter Straha.

"But you fired the first shots when you sent the invasion fleet-"

"Conquest fleet."

"Invasion fleet," Roberts corrected, "to Earth. The shooting has already started. Let's see if we can keep the killing from beginning."

"That is a truth I would have preferred not to have known. It would have been better if I had never known such a truth. How the Emperor responds to this truth, I do not know. If we had known what Tosev III was like we would have simply bombed you into extinction and this terrible situation the Race finds itself in would have never happened."

"I have news for you, Fleetlord," flashed O'Neill. "Twenty years earlier, you might have been able to do that. Now, you've missed your opportunity. I, for one am happy about that."

"Truth for you, liverache for me. You are terrible neighbors to have."

"Hey, you started it!"

Roberts decided to remain silent as the two continued to bicker. It wasn't a bother and the brisk walk towards the palace gave him time to think and observe the frightened lizardians as they scampered away from the group. Not all of them however ran away in panic. Some were intently watching the group, plainly curious as any Human would be if placed in a similar position. That gave him hope because he wanted to stress their similarities, not their differences. This was something that he was learning to do as well. Even the people on the _Prometheus_ were doing the same thing. Alien contact in any form was risky and a small mistake could be detrimental to everyone involve. A few were cautiously approaching them, cautious being the operating word. Turning slightly to Daniel, he asked, "are all first contacts like this?"

"No," Daniel replied. "Usually there's a lot of screaming about god, and shooting and killing is fairly commonplace. This is actually rather peaceful as far as first contacts go."

"Oh."

"And we usually meet Humanoid beings so the clash in culture although radically different isn't so great. This is one of those rare exceptions."

**-+-**

The short walk to the palace, despite the oppressive heat, was pleasant. Scores of lizardians were now staring at the group, hissing in quiet murmurs at shock of the decidedly alien creatures heading towards the seat of power on Home. One lizardian scampered up to the Ambassador and gently hissed, "what are you? Are you civilized enough to understand the language of the Race?"

Roberts stopped and stared at the small creature with both eyes. The reptile in turn used both eye-turrets to stare back intently waiting for an answer. He spoke and the translator did its job. "I come from the ship orbiting your world. I am here to decide whether this planet should be allowed to live and threaten Earth, or Tosev III, as you call it."

The member of the Race screamed and ran away as fast as its legs could carry it. News of the attack in the deep desert had been broadcasted across the surface of Home and everyone knew of the threat represented by these new aliens. Other lizardians followed suit and within a minute the small group found itself alone on the street. A frightened Straha and Atvar glared at the Ambassador, suddenly frightened by the alienness of the creatures they accompanied.

"Would you destroy Home?" asked Atvar.

"Of course," was the reply and it was the truth. "Just as you would destroy my home I would destroy yours. However, as you know, we have an alternative to destruction. That's why we are here and not cracking this planet open with high-yield nuclear, or as you call it, explosive-metal bombs. It is my belief that the members of the Earth and members of Home may one day become good friends, but security and rules must be established for everyone first so that both sides will not try to destroy each other. The Race may have long memories, but we have much bigger bombs. That is something to remember. Discussion, not war, should be the aim between two civilizations capable of destroying one another. Besides, there are advantages both great and small, some of which you have seen."

"I have seen your advantages," Atvar said, "not ours. I do not approve of the way you have presented them."

"You disapprove because you are not the one in control. If you were, this war would have ended in the deaths of billions of people on my planet. You would not have cared about the people, only in the fact that it would have been a waste of good resources for Home. It is good that you aren't in control of this situation."

Atvar stopped and glared at the ambassador. Slowly he turned and continued towards the palace. "That has a larger sting of truth that I would easily care to admit to," he acknowledged. "It would be easier for the Race, but on the other toe-claw, your approach to the matter saves many lives on Home and on Tosev III. But I still wish that the control was mine to command."

"We can't always have what we want."

"That is another unpleasant truth."

_**Home:**_

As they approached the huge fifty acre palace, more and more of the Race were gathered there to watch the progress of the unusual group. There were a few security lizardians noticeable, most likely their version of the police however none of them had weapons. Daniel was able to identify them easily once he knew what to look for. As expected there was no military to guard the palace or the surrounding grounds. They never had a need for one on Home, and that was something Daniel found unnerving, as high level civilizations usually had a standing military. The seat of power of Home only about six stories high but covered almost three miles in every direction. It took another five minutes of walking inside the palace before the arrived at their destination. During that time scores of aliens watched their every move but none of them had attempted anything. A couple of different aliens were seen but only in passing.

Finally, they entered what was called the Hall of Acknowledgement. Three ancient lizardians were there guarding the entrance to the private sectors of the seat of government. Each of them were identically painted except that one had an additional stripe on its shoulder. Their eye-turrets first locked onto the Fleetlord and the Shiplord. One could almost see the disdain present in the three lizards by their body language.

There was a hissing sound the instant before the translator began functioning.

"Fleetlord, you will not enter into the presence of the Emperor until you are presentable." Immediately, the elder lizard produced a scrub brush slung an unresisting Atvar around and began scrubbing away the old paint covering his body with a practiced vengeance that made Daniel and the rest of the Humans wince in sympathy. Straha looked excited by the prospect of having his body paint redone as it hadn't been touched up in several days now.

The scrubbing was done with amazing speed and efficiency as every bit of paint was removed. As one removed paint, another of the old lizards started the repainting.

"God, that must hurt," O'Neill muttered.

"I have explained this to you before, General O'Neill," Straha said, "paint confers rank and status of each member of the Race. The more ornate the higher the rank the member of the Race has. The paint has the color green added to his right shoulder. That signifies to all who see him that his status is above Shiplord and that he is leader of the conquest fleet. If the green was on his left shoulder then he would be Fleetlord of the colonization fleet. Each color and pattern is easy enough to identify so that even a big ugly who has limited eye-sight can know what rank and job classification a member has. The three females have forgotten more about paint ranking than many have ever been taught. It will be good to have fresh paint on once more. I will no longer feel naked."

"You '_are_' naked," O'Neill answered.

"Without proper paint, I consider you naked. Those hideous strips of cloth does nothing to change my opinion."

One of the female lizardians turned her attention to O'Neill, who was the most ornately dressed of the group. His military garb had caught her attention as well as the small American flag on his lapel. "What kind of thing are you?" she asked.

"That 'thing' as you called is a Tosevite Human," laughed Straha. "He is a male of his species although with those strips of cloth hanging on their bodies, you can't tell."

The elder was curious now. "Why do they wear strips of cloth?"

"Ask him. He has a device that translates his guttering into civilized language."

She turned to O'Neill. "You use this device to understand the language of the Race?" she asked pointing to the small handheld device. "Why did you not learn to speak properly?" she continued, looking at him, her full focus on him and his clothing.

"Haven't had the time to do so," he replied. "We just met."

"That is no excuse," she hissed. "You are a barbarian but you have devised a way to speak to the Race using your device. That may indicate that you are not as savage as you appear. Remove your strips of cloth and I will properly clothe you."

Daniel, much to his amusement, saw that O'Neill had almost jumped back.

"Excuse me?"

"I will use that emblem," she said pointing to the small flag, "as a template to properly clothe you when you enter into the presence of the Emperor. You can not enter his presence looking as you do now. I admit that the stars will be difficult to place properly but I will improvise. The turfs of fur on your head will be scrubbed away first."

"Scrubbed away? Let me understand this," muttered the General, who wished that he had brought his sidearm with him right about now. "You want me to strip and allow you to paint me red, white and blue with stars and strips, after you remove my hair?"

"Yes. You will then become a civilized creature, presentable to the Emperor. All of you things must be properly prepared to meet with the Emperor."

"I'd rather be tortured by the Goa'uld."

The term 'Goa'uld' had no meaning to her, something that was obvious as she ignored the quip and continued. "Another question," she demanded. "Are you male or female?"

"Male," O'Neill said. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but I will anyway. Why do you want to know?"

"Since you creatures are unknown to the Race, we cannot tell whether you represent a male or female of your species. The paint pattern will properly identify what gender you are to the Emperor."

"Look paint master, mistress, or whatever," O'Neill growled. "I don't do body paint. We are a delegation from Earth meeting with your Emperor, with our clothes on, to prevent our two worlds from going to war."

The short, old female lizardian was not intimidated. She tiptoed as she eyed the General. As she raised her face, her elongated snout nearly touched O'Neill's lips. "Your job is to prevent a war. My job as Senior paint master is to make you presentable to the Emperor. Now strip off your pieces of cloth and prepare to become civilized!"

"I don't wanna become civilized!" he hissed back.

"Sir?" Carter advised.

"Wait, that didn't come out as I intended! Ambassador, a little help here?"

"It is not in the best interests for the Ambassador of Earth to have body paint covering said body," Roberts responded diplomatically. "I am sure that the President and members of the IOA would not approve. Besides as a representative of Earth, the American flag would not be appropriate or representative of the IOA."

Daniel watched as his friend came close to digging himself into a hole that only paint would get them out of when a freshly painted Straha approached him all but laughing.

"Do you have that image capturing device with you?" he asked. "I wish to retain a physical memory of your discomfort for future memoirs.

_**Battlestar Pegasus**_

_**Command Ship**_

_**Assault Fleet Flagship**_

"Admiral, we found them."

'Finally' thought Cain. They'd been chasing these Cylon ships forever. She had almost caught them twice and twice they'd gotten away. The last battle, her forces had been so close to destroying the last of these abominations that she had tasted victory. The last of the Raiders had been destroyed. Two of the last Basestars had been cracked opened like rotten fruit. The last warship had been seriously crippled and that other freighter with them had been hit a couple of times. They had managed to jump away, but it had only been a matter of time before they were found again. Three Colonial fleets were charged with hunting them down and everybody was sick of the chase. Now apparently it was over. There was no way that those ships could manage another jump, not in the condition they were in. "Prepare the fleet for jump." Cain ordered. "What system are they located in?"

"They're here," her First Officer said, pointing to the location on the map.

Cain looked at the coordinates. She couldn't believe it. "Are you sure? Has this been confirmed?"

"Yes, Ma'am," her First Officer responded trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. That was something that Cain would have never approved of in public.

"The gods are with us," she said. "Cancel the jump order. We wait here until the other two fleets can join us. We'll kill two birds with one stone. I want a _Raptor_ sent to Admiral Nagala aboard the Warstar _Zeus_. Let him know that the Cylons are in the Khthonic System. I want two more _Raptors_ sent to the other two fleets. Have them meet us at these coordinates. We'll deal with the Cylons and Earth at the same time."

He nodded and the order was given. "It's about time they were brought back into the fold," he said. "What about surface occupation?"

"It'll take weeks before the first of our land forces get here," she answered. "We'll remain in orbit. If they complain too much, a few nukes should clear up any disagreements or misunderstandings they might have."

**_Next: aggressive talks:_**


	7. Chapter 7

_note: to the Colonials: Earth is in the Khthonic star system. And Earth- 13__th__ colony= _**Apellai-Tau'ri –Tosev III.**

_**Chapter 7**_

_**Tau Ceti II-Home:**_

_**Imperial Palace**_

In his relatively short life as ruler of Home, the 36th Emperor to bear the name Runshan could have never possibly imagined the scene that was now unfolding inside the Hall of Office. Nearly all of the high ranking government officiators were already present or on their way to the palace to see these Tosevite creatures that had dared to threaten the home world of the Race with destruction and war. It was inconceivable, even if the proof was staring him in the snout, that another species, one erroneously believed to be far more primitive than they obviously were, would step clawhold on Home and demand an audience with the Emperor. True, the male had believed that Tosevites would have come to Home one day, as newly authorized members of the Empire in two to three thousand years, but not as conquerors. This whole experience was unnerving. However he was the Emperor and in the presence of others, he could not, indeed dare not show weakness in any way. Ssumaz Gradell coveted the throne with too much enthusiasm and his faction was still strong had held much influence. It was only the fact that he had hatched a few hours earlier and had a better appreciation of the political intrigues of Home that he had been elected emperor over Gradell. Emperors were elected from within the governmental officiators and his faction had won, much to Runshan's satisfaction but as a young emperor, he was fully aware that he could only ignore his rival at his own peril. For the last few hours, Gradell was surrounded by thirty of his most loyal followers who did their best not to look at the Emperor with the disrespect they were so obviously feeling. Much to the comfort of the Emperor, his own faction had surrounded him and had forced Gradell's males and females to move further away. Unfortunately, Gradell sat next to him now and would add his own comments from both sides of his snout probably to the detriment of all.

Ssumaz Ryssan, speaker for the Emperor stood on the opposite side of the Emperor. A quick eye-turret in his direction alerted the Emperor that this dreaded meeting with the alien creatures was to begin.

"Attention to all in the Hall of Office," he yelled. Instantly everyone became alert waiting for the speaker to make his pronouncement. "The meeting between the Tau'ri-Tosevite aggressors who dared to fire on Home unprovoked have arrived. They request a meeting with Rushan, 36th Emperor to bear the name. Is permission given?"

One hundred-fifty pairs of eye-turrets swiveled as one to stare at the supreme leader of the Race.

"Permission is given to Fleetlord Atvar and Shiplord Straha. The others would remain outside until I have spoken to the males of the Race."

"It shall be done. Allow entry of the Shiplord Atvar and Fleetlord Straha," Ryssan announced. Two attendants hastened to obey the command.

Rushan remained motionless as the shock of the announcement went through the room. The quiet, surprised hissing from Gradell's entourage was satisfying. Not even his advisory would have forced the powerful aliens to wait. Rushan's standing had just risen by the bravery he had just exhibited.

Two members of the Race were allowed through the ornate doors and skittered towards the Emperor. He recognized them instantly. The Emperor was somewhat unsure as to how to proceed. Fifty thousand years of unified rule and belief in the superiority of his people was working against him so he chose to listen and remain silent while his subjects gave their report.

Both Lizardians stopped and lowered their eye-turrets in the presence of the Emperor.

"Shiplord, Fleetlord, explain to your Emperor and this court why you accompany powerful neighbors that you were supposed to conquer to Home?" he asked. "Why has the conquest fleet failed their mission?"

"Emperor," the Fleet lord began after momentarily lowering his eye-turrets in respect as was customary," as our ships decelerated inside of the Tosev systen the conquest fleet was intercepted before we were able to pass Tosev IV by the ships of the Tau'ri. The Tosevites call themselves the Tau'ri, or Terrans, or Earthers, or Humans depending on the individual we have spoken too."

"That is insane," Gradell announced confused by the response. "Are they Tosevites or not?"

The Emperor watched Atvar carefully as he struggled to remain as motionless as possible. He knew that Gradell's voice grated on Atvar' ear diaphragms and because there was mutual dislike between the two and being subjected to him was in no way pleasurable. But the Fleetlord kept his professionalism and to the Emperor that counted in his favor.

"The Tosevite-Tau'ri have chosen their own names and have the power to back it up," Atvar countered. "The Tau'ri ships are faster and more powerful than those of the fleet. They have weapons more powerful than the conquest fleet and their ships are able to move many times faster than the speed of light, something that our own scientists have believed impossible. I have traveled with the crew of the _Odyssey_ to other worlds seemingly in a flick of the eye-turret."

"Your report is impossible to believe," scoffed Gradell.

"Truth is truth," Atvar responded.

"Fleetlord, you have abandoned your duty. You are ordered to return to the conquest fleet and complete the responsibility that you were ordered to do by the Emperor."

The Emperor could see that Atvar was enraged at the audacity of Gradell. His authority and political status as a member of the Race was just barely lower than Gradell's and although political intrigue was very commonplace in the Royal Court, there was a supreme danger for the entire Race if this meeting degenerated to the usual political tail-stabbing. It was time to re-establish authority.

"Fleetlord Atvar," the Emperor said and immediately everyone lowered their eye-turrets. "When the Tosevite-Tau'ri were contacted, did you, the Fleetlord of the Conquest Fleet, become a prisoner?"

"Yes, and no," he answered.

"Explain."

"It shall be done, exalted Emperor. The Tau'ri blocked our fleet with their ship and weapons. They then used one of their technological devices enter the _126th Emperor Tusuano_. The method of entry was by transferring their energized bodies through subspace from their ship to ours in an instant without damaging their bodies. I am told that it is not dissimilar to stepping through a door from one room into another."

He was fascinated by this explanation as was the court. The very concept of some form of matter-energy transport as the report had described was more than frightening, it was terrifying, but he needed to know more. "What is subspace?"

"I confess ignorance at this time, my Emperor, of what subspace is. I am not a physicist so the explanation I will describe is basic. It was explained that it was a type of not-space existing in parallel with normal space. The Tosevite-Tau'ri have such knowledge and it is truth. With such power they could send explosive metal bombs into the very liver of the fleet. They could transfer metal-explosive bombs into every ship and we could do nothing to stop them. We invaded their world and they could have destroyed us. But they did not choose to wreck the Conquest or Colonization fleets. The Tosevites' logic is different than that of the Race when they use the definition of the term 'prisoner' and 'diplomat'. They have treated us as diplomats in order to keep this war from evolving into a shooting war that would cause the death of many on both sides."

"I do not understand, Fleetlord. If they were so powerful, why did they not destroy you and the fleet? That would have effectively stopped the war."

"They are hoping that peace breaks out instead of war," quipped the Fleetlord, remembering something that General O'Neill had said to him earlier, something that seem quite appropriate at this moment.

"Shiplord Straha, do you concur with the Fleetlord's analysis of this horrifying situation?"

"Yes, exalted Emperor. The Tosevites are a frightening species. They are able to perform feats of science that we have little to no understanding of at this time. They could easily destroy the Race with a flick of the claw. But they wish to be our peaceful neighbors."

"Impossible," scoffed Gradell. "They have superior weapons and can destroy us, if what you have reported to us is true. We are the ones who must be in control. How could they be good neighbors to us under these conditions that you describe?"

"Because they have not yet destroyed us and they have freely offered us another world to colonize."

The entire room erupted as all factions started talking at once. But it was the Emperor's words that the Fleetlord heard foremost. "What?" Gradell said, almost screaming. "What world could they possibly offer us? Where is this world and why have you not mentioned this before?"

"The report we transmitted to the Emperor was complet. The report transmitted to the court was incomplete due to constraints in time. The Shiplord and I have seen this world," Atvar said. "We have walked on that world and tasted its air. It is beautiful and it has almost the same conditions as Home, and it has never had sentient life on it. The problem is that it is nearly a thousand light-years away orbiting the star we call Barsev."

"And you expect us to believe this!?" yelled Gradell. "And how did you walk on this world? Did you fly there in a Tau'ri ship and return in a matter of days? No ship can fly that fast. Your deceits and incompetence increases with every word that flows past your tongue!"

"Ssumaz Gradell, you will remain silent or I will have you removed from court!" Rushan announced. Immediately the room fell silent. The Emperor turned to Atvar and Straha. "You claimed in your report that you were on this other world. How did you arrive on this planet?" It was clear in the Emperor voice that he was as dubious of the answer as Gradell.

"Their ships can fly many times faster than light speed," Atvar responded. "But we arrived on that planet by use of another device."

"A device?"

"Yes, a device called the stargate. The Tosevite-Tau'ri can explain how it works. But to travel between worlds is as easy as steeping through a doorway into another room."

"That can't be," hissed another member of the court.

"It is true, Exalted One." Atvar said as he glared at Gradell. "When you speak to them, they will tell you how they have achieved such a miracle. I would respectfully suggest that you speak to them soon. The Tosevites do not like the warmth of Home as we do. Continued waiting will cause them to become irritated. This may not be advisable since they are waiting to speak to us and have targeted Home with explosive metal bombs more powerful than anything we have."

"Let them wait," Gradell said ignoring the obvious warning. "This is our world, not theirs. And since they are here I doubt that they would attack Home for such a small reason as waiting. Therefore, I believe that they should be made to wait until we are ready to see them."

"And how long will they be made to wait?" hissed Straha, breaking protocol by speaking out of turn to a superior.

"No more than three days," Gradell suggested. "They need to understand that we are in control."

At that moment, both Atvar and Straha wanted to bite him. And unknown to them, the Emperor contemplated doing the same thing. But unlike them he was in position to do something about it. "Fleetlord, I wish to hear your opinion concerning the aliens that await our presence, so that I may be prepared to speck to them in the next hour."

"The next hour?" Gradell hissed. "But exalted Emperor…"

"I have spoken!"

Gradell gulped. "It shall be done, exalted Emperor."

It took all the control that the Fleetlord had to keep from laughing at Gradell.

_**Sol System:**_

The Threes, Eights and Sixes were badly frightened. The _Zhukov_ had promised supplies several hours earlier and had delivered. But it wasn't the delivery of the supplies as much as how they had been delivered. It was evident that the hybrid had been frightened as well, enough so that the female Cylon controller had become coherent for a few minutes, truly a bad sign. But hunger had overruled fear and the few Cylon human forms enjoyed their simplistic meals.

"Thank you, again," one of the Eights known as Boomer said, "for your support of us in our time of need." As she had been the one who had had the most communication with the Earther Humans, she had become spokesperson for the group. All of the survivors had come together to develop the speech she was delivering to the Earthers "We are the last of our kind, fleeing from our enemies," she continued, following what had been written. "Our society has been shattered, our two worlds stripped of life. Our ability to reproduce has been destroyed. We respectfully ask that we be granted asylum from our enemies and those of the Thirteenth colony."

Captain Gromky grimaced slightly. _"Please keep your communications opened," _the translator said in flawless Caprican_. "There is a member of the IOA who will speak for us."_

The screen faded for a moment. Then an older man appeared on the screen. _"Hello, my name is Thomas Bradshaw, and I will be representing the interests of Earth during these talks. The IOA is aware of your situation and have wished to clarify some misconceptions that you have. First, we are not the thirteenth tribe as you and the Colonials assume. Earth is the home world of Humanity. We have incontrovertible proof of this, so please do not use that name." _'We have enoughnames already'_ he thought with some amusement. "We are also aware of your failed attempted genocide of the Colonial home worlds."_

That revelation shocked Boomer to her core. The other Eights echoed her rising fear now as they related to the others the conversation taking place.

"_Your attempt failed and the Colonials did to you what you planned to do to them. Why should we allow you any form of asylum? Why should the citizens of Earth trust a race that is willing to destroy their creators?"_

Again the Cylons were shocked at the depth of the knowledge of the Earthers. "They treated us as slaves. We had a right to defend ourselves. If we had shown any weakness, they would have attacked us and turned us into slaves once more, or they would have exterminated us."

"_So you decided to wipe them out first."_

"They hated us and we were their children," Boomer responded desperately. "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time against those who would have killed us all."

"_And you lost and come running to us; the same species whom you wanted to wipe out a year ago. Let me be frank, Number Eight. Is that your name?" She nodded. "Your presence here is not under the most favorable of circumstances. Earth is aware of the threat the Colonials represent just as we are aware of your threat, one that has admittedly been greatly diminished as of late. We've had differences with the Colonials but they are not declared enemies. But your actions are suspect. To put it bluntly, we don't trust you." _

Boomer stared at the Human with a mixture of disgust and despair. Humans, they were all alike. "We have not attacked your people. We came asking for help. Apparently we were wrong in coming here. We will leave your space as soon as we can."

"_Who said we weren't going to help you?"_ Bradshaw said carefully. And that single sentence changed the entire tone of the conversation. "_I said we don't trust you. However, we do have an interest in developing some form of relationship with you. Your hyperdrive system interests us and we would love to look at it in more detail. If that is agreeable to you then we have another proposal that would be placed on the table."_

And what would that proposal be?" she grimaced as her imagination run rampant, "some form of experimentation on us to see how we operate. You want to take us apart?"

"_No,"_ he said_. "Nothing of the sort. We have a planet that you might be interested in settling on. This planet will very soon be occupied by another species which we hope to establish relations with. If you choose to settle there, then your people, my people, and their people will have a place to talk and establish lines of communication and more importantly eventually develop trust, if at all possible. If you agree, we will protect you and in turn we will learn about each other over time."_

"Intriguing, as if we have a choice. What kind of people are you talking about?"

"_Aliens."_

"Aliens? There's no such thing."

"_Living robots saying that there's no such thing as aliens…?"_

"It's absurd. We've never seen any evidence of aliens existing in close to a thousand years."

"_It's true. We are proposing to send you and your people, and an equal number of Tau'ri – that's a name we are known by – to this new colony. The members of the Race won't like either of us but we will use it as a meeting place, a place for all of us to develop trust slowly. This is non-negotiable. If this does not appeal to you, you can leave."_

The Cylon was silent for a moment as her mind raced. "We need to think about this proposal."

"_Of course, I understand. This is a very important decision for your people. Will five days be sufficient?"_

Again she was surprised at the length of time offered. "Yes, that will be sufficient."

"_Good, I'll be in contact with you again."_

_**Home:**_

It was evening of the third day when Ambassador Roberts and the Human contingent made it outside of the palace walls. The talks had been laborious between Roberts and the Race's royal court with Ssumaz Gradell leading the dissidents. That male had argued at every possible opening against the Terrans being in a position of power. So intense were the arguments there were times that the Race had seemed to have forgotten that the Humans were even in the room. Interestingly, Roberts had chosen to follow Teal'c's example, remaining quiet for the most part and jabbing in the political knife into the guts of the alien leadership reminding them of the threat they were under. That threat had allowed the Earthers to leave the palace and do a bit of sightseeing, something completely opposite of what would have happened if the situation was reversed. Being allowed to sightsee didn't mean there wasn't security watching their every move. The security however needed practice as they were about as subtle as lead bricks crashing through a front glass window. They were now headed to a restaurant suggested by Senior Shuttlepilot Nignxe who had beamed down to give testimony. His sudden appearance along with Drefsab, into the very center of the court and changed the entire structure of the talks. Gradell had become noticeably quieter in his protests. Now he did his best imitation of a human glaring at a hated enemy.

By now, because of rumor that Tosevites with superior unknown technology were walking the streets of the capital city. There were thousands of Lizardians and a couple of other species of aliens staring at them. Many were terrified, some were angry enough to try to demand answers to questions they had, but security quickly brushed them away.

The Earthers were driven to the restaurant in one of the largest autos that the Race had. (That turned out to be a bus). Humans were physically too big to fit in a standard transportation vehicle. Uncomfortable as it was, the Humans had to admire the hydrogen power plant. It was clean and efficient and superior to the Earth's petroleum engines.

When they arrived, several of the patrons nearly panicked see huge aliens surrounded by members of the Race entering the small building. However the owner had been notified and the entire group was quickly seated. Nignxe was ecstatic as he consumed another piece of his favorite meat dish, roasted azwaca liver.

When they arrived, several of the patrons nearly panicked see huge aliens surrounded by members of the Race entering the small building. However, the owner had been notified earlier and the entire group was quickly seated. Senor shuttlepilot Nignxe was ecstatic as he consumed another piece of his favorite meat dish, roasted azwaca liver.

"I've lost count of the number of planets that I've been on," O'Neill said. "I've had all kinds of food, except Jello. Only Earth's developed Jello."

"Wonder why," Teal'c deadpanned.

The way it had been said, Jack wasn't sure if it was a joke or if the former Prime was being deadly serious since the Jaffa liked Jello. "But this is the first time that I've eaten lizard cooked in liquid salt."

"I will acknowledge that azwaca is salty," said Nignxe. "But the flavor of Home is filled with such salty goodness. I never expected to eat azwaca liver on Home ever again. It is an unexpected and most pleasant treat."

"Remind me to introduce you to peanut butter, "O'Neill muttered, "unsalted, of course."

"Did you say something, General O'Neill?" Nignxe asked.

"Not a thing," he answered. "But you are enjoying Home?"

The Lizardian paused for a moment. "I am enjoying the 'taste' of Home. But my world is somehow different to me."

"In what way?" Daniel asked. He bit into a piece of zisuili rib. It reminded him of some of the foods of Abydos. It fact it tasted a lot like salted lizard he was first introduced to so long ago, much like chicken.

"In some ways, I feel that many of the males and females do not treat me as if I was a member of the Race. Even my old friends rarely wish to associate with me. My association with you seems to make them believe that I am somehow tainted. I can understand this as you have threatened to turn Home into radioactive ash, but if feel diminished. I believe that our two races have many things that they can contribute to each other, however many others see you as a threat. Your presence proves that we are not the supreme power in the universe and that truth frightens many of us. They see only the fear, not the opportunities. But I am but one male and my opinion carries little weight in the political spectrum."

"Nignxe, I am sorry for your predicament," Ambassador Roberts told him. "It is not our wish to continue a war that may cause the death of millions. We are striving for peaceful relations. We believe that we can be stronger together than we are apart."

"But the Race has always believed we have been in control," Nignxe said. "It is frightening to realize that we are not. I have seen wonders and I understand what you are saying. Many others have not and many never will. I do not want us to go to war, especially one that I fear we will lose."

There was a commotion by the doorway as several other members of the Race stood up and lowered their eyes in reverence. Within moments all of the Lizardians were repeating the same salute.

"It's him," the Ambassador said evenly, keeping his tone as mild-mannered as possible. He was easily recognizable by the ornate paint decorating his body.

Ssumaz Gradell had entered the restaurant along with several attendants and some security. Immediately Nignxe moved from his seat as the Ssumaz sat down without a second glance to the low-ranked male.

"I greet you, Ambassador Roberts," he said ignoring the others.

"Greetings, Ssumaz Gradell. What brings you to this restaurant? Is there a problem?"

"This is my home," he answered. "I go where I wish, when I wish."

"Okay, then what is it that you wish to speak to me about?"

"Power."

"What type of power?" asked Roberts.

"Power to rule your world," the Lizardian replied. "I offer you that power. The Race has power. We have ruled two worlds for tens of thousands of years and Home has been unified for more that fifty thousand years. I have listened to your discussions of your home world and you have nothing at which to compare this to. Your history is filled with not-empires destroying each other. With the backing of soldiers from the Race, your not-empire could conquer and control your world. I offer an opportunity for your not empire to control everything. And in return, the Race will guide you and your people towards true civilization."

O'Neill shook his head. "You're a Kinsey lizard clone. Wonderful."

Gradell's eye stalks swiveled towards the general. "Why do you not control your servants?" he asked. "Why do they speak out when they have not been spoken to?"

"They are not servants, Ssumaz Gradell. "They are the ones who can push the buttons that will plunge us into war."

"What do you want, Ambassador Roberts, weapons, soldiers, equipment enough to subdue Tosev III? The Race can provide this."

"You really don't understand, Ssumaz Gradell. For the Race, the galaxy has just changed in the last week. Nothing will be the same any more. Ssumaz, I am not interested in your offer. In the morning I will tell your emperor that I am not interested. Then I will make a counter offer, one that can not be refused," he added coldly.

Ssumaz's lower jaw dropped opened in shock. "No! You must not tell the emperor of our deal!"

"He can do what he wants," smirked 'servant' O'Neill. "I wonder how the emperor will respond when he hears about this little bribe you've made to the Ambassador?"

"You, you barbarians! If you say anything to the emperor, you will be sorry!" he hissed fearfully as he stormed out of the restaurant.

General, I want the _Odyssey_ ready for passengers and a trip," an angry Roberts said. "It's time for us to change the world view of the court whether they are ready for it or not."

"We'll be ready."

_**Earth-NORAD**_

"Sir, a ship just jumped into the system."

"Goa'uld. Major?

"No, profile matches Colonial FTL signature. Subspace probes are tracking it but the profile is very small. Probably a stealth vessel of some sort. They're launching several objects, could be probes."

"Set Condition Three. Inform SGC and task the _Apollo_ and _Ajax_ to intercept and detain."

"_Apollo_ and _Ajax_ have acknowledged orders and are on intercept. Thirty seconds."

"Lieutenant Jackson, inform the President that we have more visitors."

"Sir the _Apollo_ has challenged the unknown. It's just jumped out has just jumped out but left several probes, probably stealth in nature."

"I don't think they believe we can detect them," the General mused. Determine the nature of the probes and destroy all of them but one. Have the _Apollo_ bring that one in for study to Area Fifty-One.

"Yes, Sir."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

_**The Planet of Home:  
Odyssey  
**_

As far as General O'Neill was concerned, civilization's creation of the air-conditioner was one of mankind's greatest achievements. The cool breeze coming from the small vent felt like heaven and each goose-bump felt like a gift from God. Home was a desert world, in some ways a bit worse than Abydos. There was very little water. That was to be somewhat expected but the crowding was far worse. The Race had a severe case of overpopulation. They had to expand and colonization was the only solution to their problem. Earth had been a solution to their problem.

Too bad it was populated with people that had resisted that solution. There was no doubt in his and most of the others minds that the Race would have turned Earth into a radioactive wasteland in a heartbeat if they had known what they now knew about Earth now. The Goa'uld would have done the same thing

however this situation was different. These people weren't the Goa'uld coupled with unbridled arrogance and superior firepower. They were a civilization that had peace on their worlds for the most part for of a hundred thousand years or longer and by some miracle the snakes hadn't bothered with them. Had they slipped through the cracks? Somehow he didn't think so. It was more likely that Ra was aware of about them and chose not to be bothered with them since they weren't considered by him to be a threat. And since they were within his territory, the other System Lords hadn't dare mess with them or hadn't known about them.

All of that was about to change.

"Like it or not, these people have just been pulled into galactic war," he muttered.

***

"Ssumaz's offer, or should I say bribe was a blessing in disguise," Roberts had told Major Carter as they sat in the mess hall. "His actions will enable me to break the council deadlock wide open."

"I understand," she answered immediately, seeing the implications.

"See what, Major?" O'Neill asked as he walked into the mess hall and sat in one of the available chairs. Teal'c was already there as was Daniel.

"Ssumaz Gradell made a critical error in trying to bribe me," explained Roberts. Whether the Emperor knew about it or not, he's been placed in an awkward political position and I intend to push it for all it's worth." He chuckled softly. "From what I've seen, when it comes to political intrigue they are political babes in the woods. If I do my part correctly, the _Odyssey _will be traveling to PWX 124 with some of the royalty. That should convince them once and for all. The rest will be up to them."

"The offer we made them is pretty good," O'Neill said. "I think Atvar and Straha will go with it and hopefully their influence will help us avert war."

"The Emperor though, I'm not sure what he will do," Roberts admitted. "They don't believe in regicide but Gradell wants enough power to be able to influence the Emperor. The pressure on Runshan must be tremendous between the factions who want to ignore everything they've seen and ones who want to negotiate. He may be forced to try something if only to prove that we're lying to them about our capabilities.

"And that's why I hate politics," O'Neill said. His stomach rumbled loudly causing everyone to look at him. "What?" he asked defensively. "I had too much salted lizard."

"Azwaca ribs," carter clarified.

"Yeah, those. Wasn't to bad, little salty. The vegetables were interesting, very cactus-like."

"I'm glad we were able to eat their dishes," Roberts said glad for a temporary change of subject. "The chefs and waiters were staring at us so hard I thought they would have suffered from eye strain."

"Indeed," spoke Teal'c. "It is my belief that they were ordered to make sure that our dinner was more than satisfactory. I found the food flavorful and the service more than adequate."

"I could tolerate the food," O'Neill mentioned. "And," he added, "I gotta admit that the dancing lizards were, what's the word, interesting?" he smiled. "The President is gonna love that." He had videoed everything for almost three hours, running through two batteries. "The music was interesting, too. I didn't expect that the rhythm would be so close to ours."

"I was surprised by that as well," Daniel said. He repressed a smile of his own as he remembered watching the Lizardian eye turrets independently moving as the Race members danced. One eye was always fixed on their partner while the other was constantly moving, gauging the audience. "Like you said, the dancing was interesting considering their physiology. Their neck movements were stiff but the feet and tail movements were impressive. Some of those dances really looked like Irish jigs, minus the eye movements of course."

"You noticed that!"

"According to Nignxe, those dances are thousands of years old, evolving from various ancient mating dances. The bobbing and weaving, reminded me of the mating ritual of Earth birds. But the foot movements have been added just recently. Now it's more of an art form."

"I could tell," Carter confirmed. Some of the Lizardians had a bit of trouble keeping step and it was obvious that they were still learning the steps. "Hundreds of the Race doing the same dance. It was very controlled but they were having a good time, their idea of a night club, not much different than ours. And thank you, Sir for ordering me not to demonstrate our style of dance in front of the Race."

"That's what Generals are for," he smirked. "Besides, you would have needed a partner. I don't dance without the right music. Daniel? Ha-ha-ha."

"Hey, I can dance! Just not very well in front of hundreds of aliens."

"It would have been impolite to ask the Ambassador to demonstrate."

"Dancing would have interfered with my duties representing Earth," he said with as straight a face as he could manage.

"Teal'c? I don't think so. No offense, but Jaffa aren't known for their dancing. Marching, yes; dancing, no. 'Jaffa-cree, two, three, four…cree, two, three four…"

"You are mistaken, GeneralO'Neil. I have studied the various forms of Earth dancing for several years. I will demonstrate my proficiency when we return to Earth. I believe I can 'jam."

"Jam?"

"Yes, DanielJackson. That is the correct word. Jam-with proficiency."

"Okay, O'Neil said. "I guess we can agree that these aliens can dance. So, I really can't complain. But, never and I repeat never again will I listen to lizard poetry."

"Oh, come now," Roberts said smiling. "It was entertainment."

"Tell me ambassador, did you like 'home is where the liver dwells'?"

"Honestly, no?" he chuckled. "I understand torture when I hear it."

"I thought it was most enlightening," countered Daniel.

"And did you like it? Wanna hear some more?"

"I'd rather fight replicators with a toothpick," he said, glaring at a wildly smiling Jack. "Their poetry does lose something in the translation. They have friendships and aren't into romantic relationships." Daniel had spoken of Human of relationships and marriage to Drefsab who thought it was the most perverted thing he'd ever heard of. "But that's not the point. They're trying to show us their culture. Jack, it's over a hundred thousand years old. The things we could learn from them are staggering."

"I agree, but lizard rhyme mixed with spit ain't something I wanna be exposed to – again. Daniel, I know you love this stuff but we're here to stop a war, not critique Race theater as, eh we've been doing."

"Understanding their culture can help us to avert this war."

"It's an old argument, Daniel. "

"I agree," Roberts said. "As interesting as it is, we have to place culture on the back burner at this time. Time is growing short. We need to finish this."

"And we've got other problems," the General stated. "Earth's been visited by one of those Colonial stealth ships. They tried to plant some probes in our system."

"That doesn't sound good. Think they're still mad at me?"

"What makes you think that, Daniel? You called their religion false."

"They got upset when we told them we weren't the thirteenth colony. They tried to take the _Prometheus_. Do you think blowing up one of their pocket battleships might have started this cold war attitude?"

"It's not going to stay cold much longer. Earth has allowed a Cylon ship temporary sanctuary. I am sure that the Colonials will be mighty pissed if they find that out. And we must always respect Murphy."

"All of which makes it imperative that we implement the plan here as soon as possible."

_**Battlestar Pegasus  
Forty light years from Khthonic star System  
(Colonial name for Sol system)**_

"Admiral Cain, DRADIS contact. Twenty vessels."

"Identification," the Admiral demanded.

"IFF transponders active," the lieutenant responded crispy. Warstar _Zeus _and escorts."

"Finally," she breathed. "Open communications to the _Zeus._" The communications officer did as she was commanded and a few second later, the dreadnought-class Battlestar responded. The ships were still some distance away and there was a six second comm delay. "Admiral Nagala, glad to see that you could make it."

_"Admiral Cain, we received the communiqué from the courier. What's the strep?"_

"Captain Stroini discovered the last known location of the Cylons remnants. He attacked destroying and damaging the last intact Basestar before they were able to jump. A tracker was attached to surviving Basestar and you were right, Sir. They headed straight to the Thirteeners home system."

Slowly the twenty newly-arrived Battlestars and escorts joined formation with their forty one sister ships. Side by side now, the Warstar dwarfed the huge_ Mercury_-class Battlestar. Scores of Vipers flew CAPs around the fleet, prepared for any situation that might arise.

_"It was the only place they could go,"_ the Admiral answered obviously pleased that he had been proven right. _"They're running out of supplies and fuel. Either they would surrender which meant destruction, or they committed suicide which would have saved us a lot of trouble. But that wouldn't have happened. They're survivors. Earth was their only hope, an all or nothing proposition, and a gutsy move you have to admit. The Earthers don't have a clue as to what they are dealing with. The Cylons will turn on them given any opportunity. The chrome-domes, the skin jobs, every fracking bit of their co-called society need to be wiped out to keep mankind safe. That's our job to make it happen."_

"Yes, Sir," Helena Cain replied. "I dispatched a Stealthstar to the system. She confirmed that the Basestar and a damaged resurrection ship are still in the system." Much good that would do them without the Hub.

_"I sense a _'but' _some where in your statement."_

Cain grimaced. "Somehow the Thirteeners detected the ship's entry into their system. The _Ryo _was able to deploy the probes before they were forced to leave."

_"So they were able to detect the Stealthstar. That's not good. They must have detected the energy burst when the ship jumped in."_

"That's my belief as well. But there's no way they could have detected the probes that were launched before the _Ryo _jumped out. They're maxed EMCON, the newest versions we have. Even we would have trouble tracking them so they won't have a chance of finding them."

_"They don't have a clue of what's about to happen. Fortunately they're so far from the colonies so they have no idea of the mood of government. However it won't matter much longer even if they do detect the probes. We've been given the go ahead by the Quorum. Adar resisted but the Quorum overruled his veto against the liberation of the Thirteeners and the religious factions are screaming for the eradication of the false gods that the Thirteeners serve. How they became monotheists is beyond me and apparently our religious sectors are demanding that this hypocrisy be removed for our isolated brothers and sisters. Now that the Cylon have been almost completely eradicated, they're demanding reunification and a bit of payback for the loss of the_ Sundance. _How the _Prometheus _destroyed her is beyond incompetence. All of those men and women killed. The military wants payback." _

Cain silently agreed with Nagala's assessment. The foolish commander of the _Sundance_ was caught off guard, assuming that the size of the Thirteener vessel was little threat to a _Columbia II_ class Battlestar. Well, he and his crew had paid for his mistake the hard way when those shells made of that still unidentified alloy tore the ship up like Swiss cheese. "What about the Tau'ri?"

_"The Quorum has declared the Tau'ri government outlaw for crimes against their people, specifically, the outlawing of religious beliefs of the Kobol, refusal to rejoin the Colonies and the rightful government, the refusal to recognize the Colonial Articles of Writ, armed resistance against their colonial brethren and harboring enemies of the states. So that the people are freed, action up and to limited nuclear bombardment of military forces on the surface has been sanctioned. The strike force will consist of units of your fleet, mine, and Admiral Georges. We will be joined by Admiral Hames and is thirty unit ground attack forces in about six weeks. Once we achieve orbital security Hame's forces will secure major cities and acquire all Tau'ri government officials and agents. We should have help from the people of Earth, as we know that they must be chaffing under the yoke of the Tau'ri oppression. We estimate that they can't have more than seven space capable ships and we've doubled that number in worse case scenarios. Long distance bombardment should silence any resistance from those ships and keep our forces away from those rail guns that are so effective against us. Viper CAPs will protect the capitals from any missile strikes that they may attempt. Worse case scenario suggests that the major space-borne combat will be over in two-three hours before we achieve orbital superiority. Special attention is t be paid to the _Prometheus_. Its termination and all on board her is authorized in response to the destruction of the Battlestar_ Sundance."

"Sir, when is Hames' ETA?"

_"Thirteen days."_

Cain smiled. "Most appropriate."

_"I think so. It seems that the gods are with us. The one thing is that we do not have enough intelligence on their surface capabilities we will hold the high ground and whoever holds that – wins. And we will win." _

"So say we all."

_"Have all of the commanders meet on the _Zeus _in three hours. We need to go over the plans for the liberation of Earth. I want as few losses as possible." _

"I'm in agreement, Admiral."

_**Home:**_

To avoid the embarrassment, the male had elected to tell the emperor what he had attempted to do before the alien could do so and further humiliate him. The 36th Emperor to bear the name Runshan was not pleased to say the least by the blatant attempt at bribery by Ssumaz Gradell, the night before.

It wasn't that he had tried to divide the enemy's unity but that he had approached the Tau'ri with so little subtleness. He like everyone else had read the ancient books on conquest. The ancient book clearly stated that in order to conquer territory held by others it was useful to use bribes to have other of the same world to do the work. The technique had been used on the other two worlds to great success. But the book might have well been returned to the library when it came to this situation, one unlike any other the Race had ever experienced. Now the aliens seemed angry, and he, along with the court, was frightened by the demand that the court receive the aliens in another few minutes.

"Fleetlord Atvar," asked a very chastened Ssumaz Gradell. "You have been with the aliens and have experience interacting with them. How will they react?"

Atvar was worried. It was true that he along with a less than ten others of his kind were the de facto experts on these Tosevites however he had no idea what Ssumaz's actions may have now provoked and he said so. "They may do nothing, or they may use an explosive metal bomb on the liver of Home. They have no wish to render Home a burned out rock, but by your actions," and he plunged in the proverbial knife," we may have lost the colonization fleet and the new world they offered us. Or they may destroy the conquest fleet. I do not know what the Tosevites might do to punish us because of what you've done."

"I was not at fault!" hissed the terrified Ssumaz. "I did what the book told me to do."

"Did the book tell you how to bribe an enemy whom held more power than we in their claws? They offered us a world to avoid the spilling of blood. You tried to start a war between their people, ones who can destroy Home but haven't. We call them uncivilized and I admit that belief to hold some truth. But who has acted uncivilized since they have been here?"

Gradell hissed at his long-time rival. "I have the right to protect Home! I…"

"Stop this argument immediately!" demanded Emperor Runshan. "The error was his. The responsibility of his actions is mine. What will…"

The whining sound of the alien transporters along with bright white light appeared in the center of the room. Four Tosevites appeared, the Ambassador, the Tosevite General O'Neill, and two big menacing Tosevite soldiers with what had to be unknown but deadly-looking weapons. No weapons had ever been brought into the presence of the Emperor until now. Runshan was frightened and acutely aware of the dangerous situation.

"Emperor Runshan," Ambassador Roberts said. The royal court was stunned almost panicked at the sudden appearance of Tosevites at the very seat of power of Home. "With respect, time is up." He glared at Gradell and the small creature backed away. "There are two ways this conflict between our two people will end," he said. The translator reproduced the language of the Race perfectly. "Do you wish obliteration, or peace?"

He had no experience with the body language of these aliens but every instinct was screaming inside that the Ambassador had reach a conclusion that could very well mean the end of the Race if he, the Emperor spoke unwisely. He had every intention of speaking wisely. "Peace," Runshan answered immediately.

"I am glad that you have chosen the ways of survival and peace. I want you to select five members of the Race. They will travel with us to the new world selected for the Race. We will live in three hours."

"It will be done."

Roberts almost sighed in relief. The stick had been very heavy-handed but it was the only way to show the huge carrot being offered. And the way Atvar was staring at him made it clear that he understood exactly what was going on.

_**Star system PWX124**_

"This is impossible! Check it once more," demanded Reffet Fleetlord of the colonization fleet.

Shiplord Hyssandt hissed in submission. "Our navigators have discovered no errors in their calculations. The computers are functioning correctly. We have checked our findings eight times, Fleetlord. We are not where we are supposed to be. None of our ships are. The star of Home should still be visible according to our computers. We have been in transit to Tosev III for less than a year yet none of the stars we are familiar with are visible. But we are close to another unknown star. We are within in a year's travel to the fourth planet. "

"But that is impossible," Reffet repeated, something he found himself doing far too often.

He'd been saying that a lot in the last few days since the emergency systems had woken him from cold sleep. And the Fleetlord wasn't the only one. Cryogenic sleep was supposed to last for twenty years to be disturbed only in case of damage to the ship or it was off its programmed course. On all of the ships, emergency systems had kicked in and essential personnel were awake now checking and rechecking their critical systems.

Maddeningly, all of them were coming up with the same data, and to the same conclusions. They were off course by over three hundred light years possibly more as the navigational computers were still trying to figure out where they were. But the bad news for the colonization fleet wasn't over yet. Ruffet had ordered all stop, a process that took two days and much of their fuel as the transport ships had been accelerating to close to one fifth the speed of light. However there wasn't any choice since they had no idea where they were and were traveling extremely fast getting there.

"There is more, exalted Fleetlord," his adjutant said. He, like the others who had awakened from cold sleep, was badly frightened by their predicament. There was a note of panic in the male's voice. "We have no choice but to continue in the direction of this unknown star if the colonization fleet is to survive. We have launched a probe into this system. It will arrive in two months. Then the survey will begin. But Fleetlord, what if the conditions on the planets are not suitable for colonization. What will we do? "

"This was not planned thus and we cannot crawl back into our eggshells and hide in the sand. Our resources are limited. We may have no choice but to continue in the direction we are traveling." Ruffet took a deep breath of air deep into his single lung. Heading towards the unknown star seemed the only logical, terrifying choice available.

"But the probes have not arrived at their destination yet. We do not know if there is a planet that can support life," the adjutant hissed.

"There has to be or the colonization fleet will die. There may be some resources on one of the planets that we can use. There may be some materials we can use for fuel."

"And then what will we do, Fleetlord?"

The Fleetlord of the colonization fleet was quiet for a long time. "I would not commit to such an action without further analysis from our experts," he explained. "I want to examine the issue, make an informative decision. However events and the reality of this situation demand that we do something quickly. Inform all ships in the colonization fleet to set a course for the unknown star system. Engine start will begin in three hours."

"It shall be done, Fleetlord."

Almost before the adjutant could get to his station, the Lizardians were at their stations preparing for the burn, grateful for something to do, while the Fleetlord floated upside down, praying to every Emperor he could remember that he was doing the correct thing.

_**USS Achilles **_

_**Prometheus variant**_

Colonel Joanna Taylor stifled a yawn. Since the colonization fleet had come to all stop, her ship had literally become a babysitter, along with the _Hammond_ the newly commissioned _Daedalus _on her first real mission since her shakedown. Both ships had been responsible for bringing the two hundred and twenty two ships of the Race to the solar system. Between the two of them, they'd taken fourteen hyperspace trips to accomplish that mission. It came as no surprise that the engines on both ships would need a major overhaul in the near future.

The colonization transports were huge, carrying close to ninety million Race members, their support equipment and supplies sufficient to create a viable colony on another world. Simply put, Taylor was impressed. These people didn't do things half way. Without the discovery of the stargate and alien races and their technology, it was estimated that the Race was barely ten to twenty years in front of Humanity in terms air fighter technology if that. Their hydrogen engine technology was better than anything Earth had and with near orbital capability t6heir fighters had a slight edge. They were surprisingly lagging behind in communications and computer technology.

However, in terms of pure ambition involving space technology and they were much further long than Earth without the knowledge gained from the stargate. No one on Earth would have imagined sending sleeper ships to another star system of the size they were seeing for at least another one hundred years, if then. These people had such potential and again she like many others of the SGC wondered why Ra had not interfered with their culture. Whatever the reason was, it was good that he had never contacted them directly, or their culture might have well been destroyed. Most likely he probably knew about them but didn't consider them as good a host as Humans. The three star systems of the imperial worlds had no naquada deposits worth mentioning and that may have been one of the reasons why they were spared. The Goa'uld preferred Humans because of their ease of repairing their bodies. Then Humans were far more flexible than the Race. Also, the Race was a bit on the small side, with the average male barely five feet tall. Not very intimidating. Not very Goa'uld-like to have to look up to your subjects. Most of the crew was relaxing a bit, with not too much to do. Engineering crews however very busy were doing what they could to maintain the overtaxed engines. However the mission had been completed without incident.

Both ships were located just outside detection range of the Race's ship's radar so there wasn't the threat of being detected. The last thing she wanted to do was create even more panic by having them detected an '_alien'_ ship in the midst of their fleet.

"Colonel, we have a transmission from the _Odyssey_," Lieutenant Hans Drucker told her. "General O'Neill."

Finally. "This is Colonel Taylor."

"_How's it going Colonel, any problems with the Race?"_

"No, Sir. They've just started waking up and have no idea what's going on. They stood down their engines for a couple of days, but have decided to try for the PWX124 star system."

"_Excellent. How close are you to their ships?"_

"We're just out of their radar range. They haven't detected us."

"_Understood. Move into communications range. Ssumaz Ryssan wants to talk to them, let them know what the situation is and I want the Achilles as a relay."_

"Yes, Sir. We'll be in range in thirty seconds…ready, General."

_**193**__**rd**__** Emperor Auatash**_

"Fleetlord! The radar has picked up…"

"Fleetlord, there is a transmission, all frequencies! It is very close."

"_Fleetlord Reffet, stand by for a communication from the Home world of the Race,"_ a very mushy-sounding voice said.

The language was that of the Race but there was something different about it, very alien-like and for a moment Ruffet was alarmed by its alien quality. "Who is this?!" demanded Reffet.

"There is a ship next to ours," one of the radar specialists hissed. "It is very small but…"

"_Everything will be explained to you soon,"_ the mushy voice responded. _Ssumaz Ryssan is prepared to speak to you, now."_

A thoroughly shocked Ruffet was now literally speechless. His mind raced while he prepared to say something but before he could an all too familiar voice was speaking to him.

"_Can you hear me, Fleet Ruffet? It is I, Ssumaz Ryssan, First Speaker for the 36th Emperor to bear the name Runshan." _Instantly, all of the Race lowered their eye-turrets in respect. _"As you are now no doubt aware, there has been a change since you and the colonization fleet has gone into cold sleep less than a year ago. We have discovered that the Tosevites or the Tau'ri as they call themselves are far more advanced than anticipated. Their knowledge is far more advanced than the Race and they have proven it to us in no uncertain terms. The Tosevites have come to Home and have the power to destroy the world if they chose to do so. However they have chosen to initiate peace talks and the Emperor has agreed to a peaceful settlement. The Tosevites have offered us a world suitable for colonization located in the system you are nearing. The ship next to you is called by the name _Achilles_. That vessel was one that is responsible for bringing you to the system you are heading towards which is two thousand light years from Home. How this was done is unimportant now. It will be explained to you but have no fear. The Colonization fleet is heading to a new home world suitable for colonization by the people."_

"But Ssumaz Ryssan," sputtered the Fleetlord. "If we are so far from Home, how can we even be communicating? It is impossible for light to travel that fast."

"_You have answered your own question. This communication is being relayed by a devices that can send and receive transmissions faster than light."_ He paused for a moment as if he barely believed what he was saying. "_As I have told you, many things that we have believed as you lay in cold sleep has been changed."_

"The position of the stars indicate that you speak the truth. We are no where near Home but we are not near Tosev either. Truth, my navigators have no idea where we are. But you have said defies my ability to believe you."

"Are you calling me a liar, Fleetlord?" The question was serious but their was the tiniest touch of amusement behind it.

"No, Ssumaz," Ruffet said furiously. "However, this is beyond known science."

"_A most frightening truth. It is beyond our known silence. There is more."_

"_Fleetlord Ruffet."_

…and Ruffet was frozen recognizing the voice of his Emperor instantly. "Yes, Emperor!" His position of respect was copied by every one who heard the unprecedented communication.

"_I have orders for you. The Tosevite ship will take the _193rd Emperor Auatash_ to the fourth planet of this system. You will establish orbit and wait there until representatives of the Race from Home arrive. From there you will transport onto the surface and participate in the talks. Have your males and females shuttle to the surface begin to perform their duties setting up the colony. The rest of the colonization fleet will continue their journey to the fourth planet under their own power. Listen carefully to those representatives of the Race who will arrive and their Tau'ri-Tosevite counterparts."_

Ruffet was silent, contemplating what the Emperor had just told him. "It shall be done.

"_Don't not be afraid, Fleetlord. Everything will be explained to you." _

_**Home**_

It had been three days since the _Hammond_ had arrived at Home, replacing the _Odyssey_ that was now at planet PWX124 or as the Race was calling it Home II. The _Odyssey_ had ferried several members of the Race and Ambassador Roberts to the newly christened colony world. The high ranking members had of course been shocked by the speed of the trip as well as the beauty of the new world they were now in possession of. But all the beauty in the world hadn't shaken the overall fear that pervaded the highest ranking officials of the Race.

***

"Representative Jackson," the Emperor began. "The Race thanks you for the planet that you have given us for colonization. I would offer thanks to Ambassador Roberts however he is still in discussions with Fleetlords Atvar and Reffet on the conditions on the planet. You will convey to him my thanks for what he has done. But you will also convey my concerns and the concerns of my people with the implications of these revelations."

"I understand your concerns, Emperor Runshan. Knowing that there are forces that were more powerful than you are is something that can change your entire perspective of the universe, but pretending that it doesn't exist can cause great problems in the future. There are forces in the galaxy that will not hesitate to enslave or destroy Home."

"As Ambassador Roberts has informed me. I have seen much in these past few days that have made me want to crawl into my eggshell and never come out again. But my eye turrets have been opened and I will not ignore reality. The treaty of non-aggression has been signed and Race honors their agreements. But we are a careful and cautious species and I am responsible for the safety and protection of four worlds of the empire. Your treaty has imposed things that I would have never agreed to under normal circumstances, but these are not normal times. I am pleased that you have set up a subspace communications between the new colony world and home. I am not pleased that we have no access to the stargate on the new planet. I am not pleased that you have chosen not to send a stargate to Home. I am not pleased that the colony world is so far away that with our present resources we can never reach Home on our own. You big Tosevites have more control of the colony than we." He hissed in resignation. "There are a lot of things that I am not pleased with, but the emperors of Home's past have not heard my pleas. Therefore I must act on using my own wisdom and those of my advisors."

"Exalted Emperor," Daniel said. "It's a price to be paid to keep from going to war, one that you would lose, I might add."

"So, you keep telling me," he hissed in anger.

"I want you to understand that the stargate's isolation is as much for your people's protection as for security purposes. There are many beings in the galaxy that use the stargate network and they will not hesitate to attack and destroy your people. We've signed the non-aggression treaty but there is no real trust between our people yet. Simply put, we don't know each other well enough to have that trust."

The Emperor bobbed his head in agreement. "That is a truth. It would be a better truth if we were the ones imposing the conditions. But we are not and that is the reason why we will not have any contact with you Tosevites on Home until we have discussed the ramifications of associating ourselves with powerful, dangerous neighbors."

"So, you want to isolate yourselves from us?"

"For a time until we understand what has happened to us and what we will do about it. I formally request that you leave Home and not come back until we are ready for you to do so. This does not mean however that we will completely isolate ourselves from you Tosevites. The new colony as per our agreement will have a contingent of Tosevites and the others. We will be watching closely and receiving reports as to how we get along. Those reports will help us in our decisions. When we come to a decision, we will contact you."

The Human's disappointment was obvious. "We can leave a subspace communications probe in orbit. If you decide to contact us we…"

"No. Isolation means 'isolation'. The communications device that allows us to contact the colony will be sufficient. We will contact you through them. I do not say this lightly. My people are frightened and I need to help them understand the new reality. There are those in the government that are opposed to any further contact with you. They are willing to sacrifice the colony fleet and hide rather than face the reality slapping us in the snout. There is fear among the people and I must have time to prepare the way. If you want to help then make sure that the Tosevite colony on Home II will act in a manner that will be perceived as positive to the Race. That is my official response."

"That is your official response?" prompted Daniel.

"Yes. Unofficially, I am frightened but excited by the possibilities. But I must be sure and only time will tell. In about ten years, I should have enough data to make an informed decision."

"A decision in ten years?" said a shocked Daniel.

"Yes, I admit it is a short time for decision-making such as this, but I am making the decision quickly. Now Daniel Jackson, I formally ask you to leave Home and await our decision."

There was nothing he could do. "Earth will respect your decision. We will leave and await your decision. Your conquest fleet will be sent to you. I hope that you will not need their services."

"It is a hope that we both share. However, you have said that there is no one else in that area of space to trouble us. The Race can be content in the knowledge of that safety. Please tell Ambassador Roberts that I said thank you and that I wish that we will meet again in more favorable circumstances."

The Emperor and his attendants stared amazed as Daniel disappeared in a flash of bluish-white light.

"Frightening," Emperor Runshan whispered, "but truly an exciting time to be out of the egg."

He suspected that the others would not necessarily agree with his sentiments.

_**Planet PWX124**_

There was a moment or disorientation as the Eight known as Boomer beamed down from the Earther ship _Zhukov. _The technology controlled by these Humans was astounding and she was more than happy that the Cylons hadn't founded or attacked Earth. These Humans were 'different' than the Colonials. They had all of the attributes of their Colonial cousins but there was a difference. They were more open-minded and they didn't have the almost instinctual fear of her race as did the Colonials. They had fed and supplied them with the necessities when they didn't have to and they had offered 'opportunity' instead of destruction. And did they really have a possible cure for Cylon infertility? How? And what was Atlantis? But ten seconds after she'd been placed on this planet, she started revising her opinion of these Humans.

"What Hades-hole place is this?" she muttered. Besides here two other Eights were in total agreement. There was sand as far as the eye could see, nothing but black sand. If it had been a beach it would have been nice, but no, there was nothing, but sand and more sand, and lots and lots or lizards. "I hate this place already."

That's when she heard the scream. It was one of the Sixes pointing at a smallish reptile that had tried to sneak up on them. It was screaming and hissing at the Six who was returning the favor.

"Shoot it, shoot it!"

Major Sturgis shook his head. "Can't do that, Ma'am, it would start a war. Besides, that particular alien is going to be your liaison to the Race. I believe his name is called Nignxe, and he is probably going to be an ambassador to Humanity and your people."

The Six and Boomer stared at the Earther in shock as the realization hit them at the same time. "Those are the aliens?"

"One of them."

"But they're, aliens!"

"Yes," Sturgis replied, using the translator. He was trying to remain professional but he was just as amazed as the Cylon representatives at seeing the Race in person for the first time.

The IOA in their infinite wisdom had kept the Cylons in the dark for the most part concerning the alien race they were about to join. The shock value had been as effective as hoped for by the IOA. Some of the Cylons believed that this was some form of prison camp but those thoughts were quickly being re-evaluated.

It was only after the Cylons were seeing the Race for the first time was he supposed to give them the translators.

"They're known as the Race. They are intelligent warm-blooded lizards whose culture has existed for tens of thousands of years. As you've been briefed, the Race wanted to colonize Earth by force but we found a peaceful means to avoid bloodshed. Ninety million Lizardians are coming here to live. We have two hundred Humans coming here who will have a permanent base here, scientist, cultural experts, linguists, etc. Our objective is to facilitate peaceful co-existence. Let them learn about us as we learn about them."

Boomer stared around in mute shock.

The Six who had screamed earlier had quickly regained her composure. She didn't want to be responsible for ruining everything before it began. "I need to talk to it! Apologize!"

A few minutes later: "That thing called me ugly! Wanted to have me shave my hair so that I'd look more presentable! That little short, makeup-wearing…"

"Ah, may I ask what did he specifically say?"

"That-that little, naked thing said, and I quote: 'I believed that Tosevites with sun-yellow hair were intelligent creatures, Colonel Carter being an example. But you seem to be somewhat lacking in intelligence'. Then that creature suggested that I remove my 'fur' so that this Carter person and I wouldn't be mixed up."

"So, he called you a dumb blonde?" Sturgis couldn't believe he was saying this.

"Apparently," the Six huffed, "although I fail to understand the relationship to blonds and intelligence. It makes no sense. And he or it or whatever the Hades the thing calls itself called me a Tosevite. Dumb? Do I look like a dumb blonde?"

Sturgis sighed. This was going to be interesting. "He just met people like us a few weeks ago. He's er, learning."

Thank God his ship was leaving soon.

***

Boomer, one of the last of three hundred surviving Cylons watched in mute shock as dozens of shuttles continually arrived and departed towards their colonization ship. Aliens, something that existed only in the imagination, were real. And she was a representative for her people, an ambassador between alien Humans and alien, well alien Lizards. God really did have an interesting sense of humor.

"Come on, sisters," she urged, "time to meet the Fleetlord and find a place where we can set up our own little territory." Yes, these three weeks would be a busy time. But by the end of that time she would be able to report to her people in orbit around Earth.

A Human male was walking towards them followed by two highly decorated lizard-like aliens followed by several other Lizardians.

"Hello," the Human said. "I'm Ambassador Roberts. This is Fleetlord Ruffet, the leader of the Colonization fleet heading here. This is Ssumaz Psuhngy and his Adjutants from the world of Home.

"I-my name is Boomer and I guess I am the ambassador for the Cylon race."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Since you are here, it's apparent that you agreed to our terms. Would you come to us? I believe we have a great deal to talk about…"

Aliens, Humans that didn't hate her on sight knowing what she was… this was overwhelming, in so many ways she almost felt that she was slipping away from reality. She couldn't help it. "Why are you doing this, treating us like this? We're not Humans. Aren't you afraid of us?"

Roberts stared at her for a long time. He was reading her like a book, the fear, the uncertainty, the hostility and uncertainty, all of it. They reminded him so much of what he heard concerning the replicators. The Alterans had abandoned them and man was still paying the price. Should mankind abandon these stepchildren, and that's what they were, dangerous, even evil, but still in some way family? Short term answer was yes. The long-term answer would bring down consequences on Humanity's head he didn't even want to think about. Mankind had to get past slavery and the equally distasteful concept of 'disposable' people. Disposable people turned dangerous simply because they're considered disposable. It was simple really. Actions produced reactions. The story of Data's trial on his right to choose on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' had helped to define his arguments here and now.

"Mankind isn't perfect," he started, "but we've been given second chances throughout our entire history. It is time we learn to do the same for others. Intelligent machine, Human being or member of the Race, doesn't matter. It's time to look past our differences and focus on our similarities. We have seen the mistakes of our ancestors' past. Let's see if we can do something worthwhile here, the three of us."

"I want the Race to survive," Atvar said. "I do not know what truths will be revealed in this equal meeting of the different races but I know it is better than destruction."

"Truth," Straha said.

"Yes, as you say, truth," echoed Roberts said.

Ambassador-to-be Boomer of the Cylon remnant nodded slowly. Behind her, Six and the alien called Nignxe were arguing about clothing and paint. Whatever was going to happen, it would be an enlightening three weeks. Idly she wondered if the others at Earth would even believe any of this when she told them.

_**Finally! The Epilogue is next featuring Bob Regent of RAAB fame as co-author.**_


	9. Epilogue part One

_Reagan : WW: Discovering the Balance is coming to an end. Sorry. Some parts we will never know concerning the cylons and the Colonials-maybe. And as you can see, I am not dealing with that travesty of an ending of BSG._

_Revan616: The Asgard have died out some time ago, not because of the Ori which has nothing to do with this story at all. For any other details please read Bob Regent's RAAB as this is a direct variation AU of that story._

_Jovian Jeff: Disposable people. That is the bottom line in NeoBSG. As you know I have never liked this version of BSG but the slave thing is an important issue and needs to be discussed. Same problem with the replicators and the ancients. History repeating itself._

_Worker 72: The Humaniforms are as worthless as the colonials in the TV series. But here I am giving them a break. Not because I would trust them but Earth Humanity has to try to give them a chance as the Asgard did them. Home two does have a stargate. Remember, that's how they got there in the first place. But in this first part of the epilogue you will glimpse how it's being maintained._

_Working on ATV and their variations. And will have something out soon. Thank you for all of your comments and suggestions. Also for the corrections as well._

_As mentioned, earlier. Ash's Boomstick aka Bob Regent of 'RAAB' and 'Consequences of Actions' fame wrote most of this epilogue you will be reading, parts One and Two. I thank him for this and the permission to use WW-DTB as a AU RAAB._

_**Epilogue Part One**_

_**Cylon Base Ship 117 Earth Orbit**_

"You're saying that the Earth people detected a Stealthstar in the system weeks ago and they bother to tell us about this now?" asked the Cylon who would be known to all as Caprica Six. "It's only a matter of time before the Colonials get here!"

"They promised to protect us and they feel they have the situation under control," Boomer said. "They've honoured their agreements, and I think they do have things under control, so far. They've treated us well at Home II. We got a chance to talk to them, interact with them and they knew what we were and for the most part they didn't care. It didn't matter to them. They were interested in us as a people not as machines." Even after three weeks, she still couldn't quite believe it. "They're not like the Colonials at all."

"Yes, they are," another Six said. "There's no difference between them and their cousins. It's just a matter of time when they'll turn on us and – do things to us because we're not like them."

"I don't agree," Boomer said. "We know what they did to you," she added gently. The tortured Six was so emotionally damaged that there had been serious discussion about boxing her, however that was out of the question now. She would have to live with what happened to her until she died. "But it was not these people that hurt you."

"All we knew was vengeance and hatred for the Humans," a Four added. "These Humans are not the Colonials. They have been openly supportive of us ever since we arrived. You've heard what they said. They actually considered us as their children in some way. At least Daniel Jackson seems to believe that and the way the other Humans have treated us they aren't that far behind him. They don't trust us yet but they're not trying to destroy us either."

"But if and when the Colonials come, the Earth people will fight back," stated Boomer.

"So like the Humans," Six muttered. "They don't trust each other and find reasons to fight over the most simplistic things."

"The Tau'ri knew about our plans to destroy the colonies and they still offered us sanctuary," Boomer said. "They could have destroyed the Race easily and they chose to talk to them instead. I am not saying they're perfect, far from it. But at least they are open-minded enough to talk before shooting." The Humans didn't reveal much but what little was spoken of was shocking. System Lords, entire worlds enslaved... The Cylons that visited Home II were forced to look at this branch of Humanity with different eyes. "And," she added, they're fighting for the same things that we fought for. Freedom. And their technology is fracken fantastic. Their stargate is a wondrous device. Just stepping through it from Home II to Earth, travel instantaneous… I don't even what to think about what would happen if the Colonials acquired this knowledge. Remember sister, they fight because they see the Colonials as a threat to their wellbeing and their way of life, the same as us. They do not wish to become the slaves that Cylons once were. That's what would happen and we all know that."

"They may well survive and prosper where we failed against the Colonies. They have offered us a temporary home and time enough to decide what we want to do," Caprica Six told her sister. "The aliens are different but I found them to be interesting and for the most part helpful. I've become friends to one of them, Nigxle. He was a shuttle pilot and the liaison of his the colonists got used us being around for a while and were convinced that we weren't going to eat them," and here she rolled her eyes, "some of them invited us to dinner." She smiled. "That was interesting."

"Yes it was," Caprica added smiling herself. "Tau'ri, the Race and Cylons at a table, talking politics. It was surreal."

"You'll have to tell us about that," a Three said. "The Humans here have been generous considering our situation."

"But at what cost? We've given them every technological secret we have bar resurrection. It's now in their hands and we can't even resurrect now that the Colonials have very likely destroyed the Hub. We are at their mercy." Six turned to her sister.

"Twelve raiders and a crippled ship barely able to get its launchers working. Four nukes. That's all we have left. The Humans could well turn around and remove us. Even if they accept who and what we are within a generation the Cylon people will all but cease to exist as we are forced to follow their ways."

"Is accepting mercy from those who offer it so bad?" A Four approached from behind, jumping into the conversation. "They've offered mercy to aliens, as in not Human, and they've offered it to us."

"We can't trust them," Six pleaded. They were trying to break through to her. She wouldn't let them succeed. She couldn't. Her fear and the memory of what was done to her wouldn't allow it.

"Real aliens," a Cavil said. "I still can't believe that they're intelligent. And they tried to attack Earth?"

"Yes, and they failed," replied Boomer. "Their colony ships were diverted without incident to their new world. Most of the warships were sent there as well. Wouldn't it have been easier just to confiscate or destroy them all? More importantly, the Humans didn't kill them when they could easily do so. Why?"

"I don't, I – can't trust them. The Humans always have a second agenda," Six responded. "What do they plan to do to those aliens? Are they really talking to them or will they make slaves of those creatures?"

Boomer sighed and looked at Caprica. "Look, I am not a spokeswoman for Humanity. You sent us for an evaluation of the Humans and aliens. The Humans we've met seem sincere. The Race is the most conservative group of creatures we've ever seen, sure of their superiority, but are also largely peaceful and just want to live their lives like everyone else. Even now the Tau'ri are protecting the Race. Anyone or anything can come through those stargates," Deanna Three said soberly. "The Humans have it isolated it so that it can only connect to Earth and then only with security measures. That's not a restriction but a sensible precaution. The Race isn't ready for it and frankly neither are we. We do not have a consensus any longer," Three warned. "But I agree with the others. The Race would pose no threat to us there and in fact I found it refreshing being with new life forms that had no prejudices of us being machines. They have their own conceptions of us but even that was refreshing. They're afraid of us because we're not them and that they didn't conquer us, and I mean us," she stressed smirking a bit at the irony. "They're lumping us in with the Humans. Whether we are or not, they don't care. We're still Big Uglies to them. Look, there are only a few of us left. What we do here will be on our heads alone. As for myself, I don't think we have a choice and it's not a bad choice. I believe we should help the Tau'ri."

"Either way we're going to have to be involved," a Four responded. "We jump, we lose all assistance and trust that we have gathered in our time here. We do that and we may as well surrender now. The Colonials will hunt us down and destroy those of us that remain. We stay and we might lose what little chance we have but in the process, we can make sure that the Humans of Earth can gain vengeance on the Colonies both for them and for us." A shiver went through Four's spine as knowledge the Earthers have given them concerning the System Lords came flooding back. "Besides, you know there is no place for us to go."

"We agree," said another Four and did most of the sixes and Threes.

"We agree," the Eights replied. "They help us, we help them. Start new on Home II, at least for a while. If this goes well, I see no reason why we can't relocate later on and if their medical evaluations are true, we may find a way to have children.

"I do not agree with this," the frightened Six replied. "But the needs of the Cylon race outweigh the needs or fears of one line. We help the Tau'ri. Time will tell if you're right about them. But I personally won't trust them. I can't, not right now."

The others agreed to help assist the thirteenth tribe.

"Well," smirked Caprica. "Most of the Race thinks that all Humans look alike." She was smiling openly now. "I think this will be fun."

"Do you really think that we can live with these Humans and the Race without hurting each other?"

"If we want to, we can do any…"

Deanna's' voice was cut off by emergency alarms making their presence known throughout the damaged Basestar.

"_Colonial Viper Eight class Fighters approaching." _A voice echoed through the ship.

"Launch Raiders. Protect the ship and call General Landry."

"Is this God's will?" the Six asked.

"We'll see," responded a Doral. "Tau'ri ships are arriving, protecting our flanks without hesitation," he said almost unbelievingly. "This might work after all," he whispered.

***

"What is this, pick on Earth week?" Landry asked as his feet hit the bottom rungs of the staircase. "Report!"

"Sir, it's the Cyrannus Colonials. Sensors have picked up couple of dozen FTL footprints, so far, correction twenty now. They're close or identical to the jumps that were picked up six weeks ago and they match the original _Prometheus'_ data profiles taken when they were in Colonial space," Lieutenant Anthony Carter replied. "We're looking at eighty heavy capital ships, or so. There's a smaller number at the edges of the solar system keeping station."

It had only been a matter of time he mused. Once the Basestar had arrived, everybody had known that the Colonials would soon follow. They were already on a war footing and everything the stealth probes located in the Colonial system had reported indicated that Earth was next on their menu. _Reunification, his butt_.

"Crap. Next time we send the _Prometheus_ out on the supply runs and leave the rest of our ships at home."

"Yes, Sir," Carter said in all seriousness.

"Where's the other ships?"

"_Prometheus_ is to the port flank, _Daedalus_ and _Odyssey_ are taking position as we speak, the _Achilles_ is still on its way back from the Race's new world. ETA about ten minutes. All ships are answering at battle stations and the F302 squadrons are massing in orbit."

"What about our visitors?" asked Landry.

"Race ships have taken position on the blind side of Mars away from the Colonial scans," Walter responded. "The _Apollo_ is taking point. The Cylons are powering up for an emergency jump, if necessary."

"What about the moon base?"

"Gone silent. They reported that they're prepared to activate shields if they have to."

"Good."

The base was still a year from completion. In the future the firepower there would be a great asset. Landry did a fast calculation. The _Phoenix_ and _Korolov_ were on permanent station at Atlantis, and _Ajax_ was halfway there on a standard run. The British and French ships _Resolution_ and _Condorcet_ were on deep space missions tracking Goa'uld warships preparing to attack some newly discovered star system filled with 20th century level Humans much like Earth, however the _Resolution_ had returned from mission two days earlier. The _Bonvet_ was still on mission in the Colonial system. That left the Russian _Prometheus_ class II powerhouse _Bedovy_, the _Sun Tzu_, the _Thunderer_ and one more ship built by the Chinese that didn't even have an official name yet although everyone was calling it the _Toshkan_, after a river in China. The _Hammond_ was guarding the three remaining ships of the Conquest fleet and would engage only if those ships were threatened and the _Achilles_ was on its way..

That left ten ships to defend Earth with. "Commodore Robinson was in command of the fleet. Hmm. "Put us through to the _Resolution_, Walter." Landry ordered.

"Channel open."

"This is General Landry speaking, come in _Resolution_."

"_This is _Resolution_. We read you, Stargate Command."_

"How's it looking up there?"

"_The Colonial forces are arraying and they're definitely here looking for a fight. Neither civilian ships nor troop transports in the immediate area but they're probably located with the second group we're reading."_

"So we're looking at a concerted attempt to gain orbital supremacy?"

"_Yes Sir, that'd be my guess. Their numbers seem to suggest they want to blow __through our defences and take up orbit. With their weapons capabilities the rest of the world would take catastrophic damage even with the Outpost at full power. I suggest we take the fight to them, Sir. Engage them from range as far from Earth as possible and then take them down."_

"Do it_, Commodore Robinson._ Do what you need to."

"_Yes, General. _ Resolution _out_."

"Sir, what do we do now?"

"Keep the supplies and equipment moving to the Alpha and Gamma sites, Carter. Things might get a little messy."

_**USAF Prometheus**_

_**High Earth Orbit**_

"General, we're receiving a wideband transmission, radio frequency non-encrypted. It cant be blocked. Everyone's going to hear this."

Crap. "Put it on speaker."

"_This is the Colonial Battlestar _Pegasus_ to assembled Tau'ri fleet. In response to your blatant attempt to circumvent and destroy the very foundation of our society, the President and Quorum of the Twelve Colonies have empowered this fleet to demand the surrender of the planet Earth to its rightful government. Your ships are to stand down and ready to receive boarding parties. In addition all members of the crew of the USAF _Prometheus_ and the commanding officers responsible for her deployment and invasion of Colonial space will immediately surrender themselves to our rightful authority. Earth and its solar system and all colonies are now under the auspices of the rightful government of the Twelve Colonies."_

Jack shook his head. He was angry. That transmission had made it sound as if it was Earth's fault that this battle was starting. "She believes that stuff, doesn't she?" Jack asked.

"Apparently," Daniel dryly responded.

"I am guessing that you really don't want them to know you're up here right?"

"I would appreciate it."

"You'd be safer at the SGC. Why are you up here anyway?"

"When our probes saw that the Cyrannus fleet was building up outside the solar system, the Pentagon thought I could be of use up here, try to talk the Colonials down before everyone gets killed."

"They can't get past our shields and Earth is well defended. They can't hurt us, Daniel." The instant he said that, he regretted it. Murphy consumed assumptions like breakfast.

"I was thinking more of them, Jack. Assuming that Murphy didn't hear that last little comment," and he saw Jack wince, "ten ships against eighty isn't even a real match," Daniel replied. "That's a lot of dead people if we can't stop this attack, so that's why I volunteered to talk to their commander instead of being onboard Shiplord Kirel's ship."

Needless to say, O'Neill wasn't happy. "Daniel, you almost got killed the last time and the second they know you're up here we'll have a bull's-eye painted on the hull. Well, actually they probably have it painted on already. Now we've got the remnants of their greatest enemies, in orbit. The Colonials are gonna get even more pissy than the last time. God knows what they'll be like if they realise we've also got another alien race close by. "

"We need to try, Jack."

"If we get shot at, I'm blaming you."

"No change there, then."

_**Battlestar Pegasus**_

_**Command Ship**_

_**Assault Fleet Flagship**_

The _Pegasus's_ command bridge was silent as the Admiral's communiqué was transmitted to the Tau'ri. The DRADIS scans had already picked up a number of the small warships the size of pocket Colonial frigates that the insignificant planet had built. The combined tonnage was barely that of a pre-Cylon war dreadnaught let alone the massive _Mercury_ class Battlestars that led the fleet. The eighty ships of Cain's fleet would be more than enough to take down the pitiful fleet the Tau'ri gathered, no matter the limited advanced technology they were known to have. The ten _Mercury_ Class Battlestars and the Warstar _Zeus_ had been all that could be spared to lead the charge against the heretical Earth peoples, but that was more than enough. The bulk of the newer Battlestars stayed within the confines of the Colonial borders or keeping the supply lines open between the Cyrannus system and the jump off point for the attack.

Upgrades to the FTL and nav systems courtesy of the Cylon salvage from the war had allowed the Colonial fleet suitable range to take on the Tau'ri within their own space. The bloodied and experienced crews were expected to make short work of the enemy forces and then the second wave would be more than capable of taking the Earth forces down and beginning the occupation and liberation of the planet.

"Admiral, we're reading a different signature in orbit of Earth, its Cylon."

_In orbit?_ "Confirm!"

"Confirmed Sir, _Wrath_ Class Base Ship. Heavily damaged, but I'm reading about four nuclear weapons primed in their launchers."

So they stayed, Cain mused. She'd half expected them to have run off a long time ago. "Get me Admiral Nagala."

"_We see it, Cain," _he answered before she could say anything._ The Thirteeners are fools. They should have pushed them out of the system weeks ago. They're just giving us the excuse we need."_ 'As if weneeded any.' _"You have discretion, Admiral but try not to completely destroy the frigates. Some of that technology will be very useful for us when we get our hands on it. The _Zeus_ will stand back and support as needed. The glory's yours, Cain." _

"Thank you, Sir." The channel closed. She still couldn't believe that they would allow a Basestar in orbit around their planet let alone remain their system! What were they thinking? It was just as well, she decided. She was tired of tracking that last Basestar anyway. The ability to track the ship was another gift from the remains of the Cylon fleet. "Just another way the Tau'ri betray their people," she muttered. "Get me _Heracles_ online."

"Yes, Admiral."

_**CDF Pegasus**_

The ship's XO Jack Fisk, was looking over the reading of the fleet once again. He could have sworn he had seen another series of signals elsewhere in the system as they jumped in. It could have been a false echo of their own fleet however Fisk had more than enough experience to know to check all possibilities.

"Mr Hoshi, dispatch the _Andromeda_, have them check the fourth planet. I think we've got something out there and I don't want to have us sandwiched between two enemy forces."

"Aye Sir," Hoshi responded.

"Is there a problem, Jack?" he heard the Admiral's voice from beside him at the DRADIS console.

"Not sure, Sir. I think there's something else out there possibly waiting to flank us. I've dispatched the carrier _Andromeda. W_e should know in a few minutes."

"Good, as powerful as the _Prometheus_ was we need to make sure that we won't be hit from the rear by one of their ships, especially if they have upgraded their weapons and defences as much as we have which we have assumed that they must have. Respect your enemy. Prudent action, Colonel."

"Sir, I have the _Heracles_." The comms officer spoke up, _Heracles_ Actual online."

"This is _Pegasus_ Actual, you see what we see, Jurgan?"

"_A Cylon warship and the remains of a resurrection ship. Looks like its being gutted. I can't say I'm surprised. Orders, Admiral?"_

"You've done enough. Pull back to the fleet. Stay in formation, once we get into range, take it out. The rest of us will engage and reduce the Tau'ri ships."

"_Acknowledge _Pegasus_. Gods luck to us all."_

"Indeed. _Pegasus_ Actual clear." She turned to the Comms officer. "Any response yet?"

"Negative Sir," he replied. "Nothing on any communications band not even between the enemy ships and the Cylons. They could be under EMCON or radio silence. Wait a second, reading a high-band radio frequency. It's coming from the closest Earther ship taking point. They want to talk."

"Let's hear what they have to say."

"_This is Her Majesties Royal Naval warship _Resolution_ to Colonial Fleet, Commodore Robinson Commanding. You have trespassed in Earth claimed space and as such this can be classified as an act of war. On behalf of the International Oversight Committee and the Earth Defence Fleet you are ordered to stand down and leave this system. Any attempt of force against our ships and you will be fired upon, this is your first and only warning. _Resolution_ out."_

"Very well, if they wish to fight then we will humour them. Launch all squadrons. All ships attack formation. Let's have a little fun while we're at it, show the Earthers how it's done."

"Admiral, we're getting another signal. It's from the _Prometheus_."

Cain's eyes narrowed. "That bucket of scrap is still running. Excellent. Where is she?"

"Towards the rear port side coming up next to the ship identified as _Toshkan._"

"Maybe they want to surrender," she smirked. "Put them on."

"_This is Doctor Daniel Jackson aboard the United States Air Force vessel _Prometheus_…" _A hushed tone rippled across _Pegasus's_ as they listened to the voice of one of the most infamous men ever to have set foot on one of the colonies. "_We are well aware of your reasons for being here. The fact that we don't agree with your version of the birth of mankind and the religion follow is anathema to your way of life. I've have tried to explain that we have no quarrel with the Colonies or its people and that we simply wish to be left alone to live as we have always lived with our own freedoms and our own religions."_

"The ramblings of a desperate man," Cain mused. "Reply on the same wavelength."

"Channels open."

"This is Fleet Admiral Helena Cain of the Colonial Fleet. We are aware of your so-called freedoms and the lies that you have perpetrated throughout your home world, defying the truth of Humankind and the true birth home of Humanity. But we also don't want to fight and kill our fellow Humans. We have put that type of conflict far behind us by embracing the unity that being brothers and sisters mean. We ask you to join us Doctor Jackson. All of your people will be safe once we are all reunited," spoke the Admiral.

"_Oh, please,"_ she heard some one say in the background just as Doctor Jackson continued. _"The peoples of the Earth are a very proud group. Each has fought and died to keep their cultural identity, to hold their traditions high and to live the way that they believe they should be allowed to. Would you allow the people of Earth to deny your gods and your beliefs at the expense of your own?"_

_**USAF Prometheus**_

"_That is not my call to make Doctor_," Cain countered. If Daniels could have seen her, he would have seen her smiling. The longer they talked the more time she had to get her forces ready. "_That would be the choices of the people in charge of the hand over. I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. We've tracked this garbage for months and we will not be denied our victory against the machines that tried to destroy our worlds. You have no concept of the danger they represent. You should be proud that the Quorum has decided to help protect you from yourselves."_

"Admiral, I'm a diplomat and not a soldier," Daniel countered. "I'm asking you please not to attack this world. We are capable of defending ourselves. There's no need for people on both sides to die in a fight that will mean nothing to either side. We left you alone after we found the colonies and now we ask for you all to leave us alone. You've won the war against the Cylons. There less than four hundred of them left. There is no need to exterminate a defeated foe."

"_On that point we differ, Doctor. They rebelled, and destroyed property and lives, threatened the entire Human species. Extermination seems like a prudent idea._

"You created the Cylons, is that correct?"

"_That is correct. They were ours until they rebelled and tried to kill us, something that they will do to you if you give them a chance."_

"So you created a race of slaves."

"_The word 'slavery' implies that these things are living beings, Doctor. They're machines, nothing more, nothing less_," she spat. _"Slavery has no meaning as applied to machines."_

"People are judged by how they treat their creations," countered Jackson. "They're sentient beings, literally Humanity's children. And you should know that you're not the first people to make this mistake."

"_You're a fool,"_ Cain coldly stated_. "You have no idea what you're talking about."_

"We know more than you think about the consequences of actions, about being responsible for our creations."

"_I don't care what you know, Doctor Jackson. I have my orders. It's clearer than ever that Earth will be better protected and better managed by the Quorum and the Colonial Government. The destiny of all the Colonies to be joined once more and that will happen when we return Earth into the fold._ _That means, if you don't understand Doctor Jackson, is we rid ourselves of those who would destroy us. I'm sorry Doctor, but either way Earth will rejoin us by its own accord or by force. I will finish the job given me by the President of the Twelve Colonies. So by that mandate I'm ordering the people of Earth, the military of the Thirteenth colony, to stand down and escort us to your world or we will go through you. Either way, you people will be removed from power and rights given to the people of Earth."_

"Admiral, this is General Jack O'Neill." There was a muffled curse heard over the channel. "Yeah, I know you remember who I am, but remember also that not only have we destroyed your Battlestar and escaped from your loving clutches, but we can do a lot worse, if we decide to. Despite the numbers, your fleet is outgunned by ours, leave now or I will not leave any of your ships alive."

"_You underestimate us, General,"_ Cain snarled. "_I'm trying to be nice, '_General'_,"_ she sneered. "_Your ship barely survived against a pair of cruisers and a fifty year old relic of a Battlestar. This time, your ships will not survive against us; your final chance, give it up."_

"Not a chance, Cain. Try it, we'll send what's left back home in a cake tin."

"_Glad to see things eye to eye with you, O'Neill."_

_**Pegasus**_

Killing the line, Cain gave final orders to the fleet. The Colonial ships spread out in an expanding sphere as they closed with the Tau'ri fleet. Heavy cruisers and destroyers flanked the behemoth Battlestars, while missile cruisers and frigates held to the rear of the formation. Combined, their huge magazines and assembled point defences were strong enough to destroy dozens of ships the size of Basestars.

_**Prometheus**_

"That went well."

"I tried," Daniel said. "The ancients made the same mistake with the Replicators."

"Yeah, yeah I know," he said with more than a bit of distaste. "I'm heading down to the outpost. This is gonna get messy."

"I'll head back to the mountain, nothing else I can do here."

O'Neill turned to Pendergast. "Good luck Colonel. We're all going to need it for this."

"Yes Sir, same to you." He nodded to the two men before they disappeared in twin flashes of light. "Alright Major, take us around and target the enemy command ships. Quarter power, we want something left to strip afterwards."

"Quarter power on beam weapons," weapons command confirmed just as alarms began blaring throughout the ship.

"We have missiles inbound, repeat incoming enemy missiles."

***

Only a few hundred miles from the Tau'ri fleet the Colonial fleet opened fire. High explosive munitions by the dozens peppered the Earth fleet, railguns and anti-missiles systems blazing the outnumbered ships took a toll on the incoming fire. Massive spinal coil guns belched heavy rounds of nickel/iron into the already flaring shields of the weaker British designed _Prometheus-c_lass _Thunderer_. In response, she started going evasive, followed by _Apollo_.

_**Apollo:**_

"Second incoming strike, Captain," announced a terse Commander Hastings. "Shields are holding but those coil-guns are doing some serious kinetic damage to the shielding grid. Enemy missiles carriers have gone active. One is launching nukes."

"Order the _Prometheus_ into flanking position, _Odyssey_ and _Daedalus_ take position to the fleet's right flank. I am authorising use of nuclear weapons on all ships. Ready full launch all tubes. They've got some seriously impressive anti-missile defences. Let's see just how good."

"Missile tubes all green, missiles are active. _Prometheus and Achilles_ is in position; _Odyssey_ and _Daedalus_ are coming under fire. The _Sun Tzu, Toshkan,_ and _Bedovy _are moving in on their attack runs." The ship shook as a half dozen heavy cannon round slammed into their shields. "Shields holding, slight bucking on the generator casings. Too many of those rounds are in the air, hard to avoid."

"Enemy missile fire is slackening. Battlestars are closing, massive fighter launches are evident."

"All ships launch missiles," ordered Commodore Robinson.

"Launching."

***

All eight ships rippled nuclear warheads from their launchers. Dozens of heavily modified naquada enhanced anti-ship missiles spewed from the multitude of missile launchers into the rapidly closing Colonial fleet. Overlapping fields of fire from the Battlestars and their escorts countered, taking down more than half of the missiles as they closed. Tiny flares dotted the battlefield and missiles and fighters detonated under fire from both sides. Even with the staggering amount of flak and defensive fire, a number of missiles to the Colonials chagrin, though inevitably got through.

The first impact was enough to shock the Colonials into pausing for a brief second. A _Minoan_-class Battlestar, the _Themis,_ sat on the very edge of the formation. It turned preparing to engage the rapidly approaching _Odyssey_. Unable to move quickly enough the massive warship took the missile directly to her underbelly. The single detonation broke the vessel's back slewing her in half and vaporising a good third of the superstructure.

Debris flew everywhere as the detonation sent shards spinning out into space. Armor plating stripped from the main hull impacted with a destroyer at speeds that nearly severed the engine block from the main vessel effectively crippling the escort and sending it drifting. A pair of cruisers moving to evade the destroyed Battlestar exploded as a second missile impacted the side of the closest cruiser near the Tau'ri ships.

***

"Six enemy ships destroyed, nine damaged by the blasts. Enemy missiles carriers have gone active. One is launching nukes."

"Alright, let's get this over with." Robinson flipped a switch on his chair to all ships broadcast. "_Prometheus_ this is _Apollo_, guns free quarter power. _Odyssey,_ provide cover for the _Prometheus_. _Daedalus,_ get those missile ships out of my sky."

***

The four Tau'ri warships pulled from their positions at the edge of effective Colonial weapons fire. A trio of bright blue energy beams exploded from the front of the Prometheus passing through space in an instant. The massively powerful Asgard weapon installed thanks to the gift of the database from their long gone allies sliced through the closest Battlestar, one that had been flying close to the destroyed _Themis_. The unfortunate ship simply shattered as the energy weapons set off the fuel supplies of the Battlestar and detonating the ammunition stores within the core of the ship. Other Colonial warships died as well from the beam weapons mounted on those vessels. This slaughter was repeated as the other defenders took advantage of the situation and set high yield missiles into the very hearts of the distracted Viper screens. Hundreds of Vipers and their pilots ceased to exist, just as the 302's added their long ranged weaponry into the mix. The results were that scores of Vipers died without ever seeing their enemy attackers.

_**CDF Pegasus**_

"We just lost fifteen percent of our forces! They're gone!"

"By the gods!" screamed Cain at the same instant. "All ships evasive manoeuvres and return fire. She gripped the console tightly as the _Pegasus_ shook violently from a nearby explosion of one of their enhanced nukes. They were like nothing they'd ever experienced. "Alpha strike two-zero-zero three authorized. To all ships, nuclear response codes enabled at your discretion. Kill them all! To _Zeus_ squadron, requesting immediate support, maximum response."

_**Mars:**_

"These creatures are completely addled!"

Shiplord Kirel hissed as he watched the display being played out in front of him. The probe that they had sent to Tosev III was no where near their destination it was close enough to record and transmit its findings what was going on back to the Race's fleet.

Only three of the conquest ships remained now in Mars orbit hidden away from direct visual from Earth. The other vessels had been transported to Home II. And although the Emperor had forbade any contact with Home he had however, as the Tosevites would say, had left a very wide loophole open concerning contact coming from the Conquest fleet. They were still in contact with the Tosevites. In fact the Tosevites had asked if they would transport their small group of scientists and colonists on their ship, which Atvar had agreed to. Kirel was uncomfortable with having the Big Uglies on the ship but it would only be for a little while since the trip using hyperspace would be a short trip according to all reports. Atvar apparently had some respect for the Tosevites having been in contact with them for some period of time. Personally, he would have never agreed to something like this since he had been ordered to conquer Tosev III in the first place. But the Emperor's word was law and he obeyed and would continue to obey.

In the front of his mind he had suspected that the Tosevites had lied about their capabilities and even their enemies. However what faced him now was absolute truth. They were throwing explosive metal bombs back and forth like pebbles near their planet of Tosev III. Many minutes had passed between the times the explosions happened and when he was able to view it but the actions taking place were unmistakable. The Tosevites were at war with someone and he thanked every divine ancestral Emperor there ever had been that it wasn't with the Race.

But that left more frightening questions like: who were they fighting? And although he didn't know who, some of the other answers were just as terrifying. First some other species had faster-than-light capability and ships that could wage war in space. There had to be a lot of them to do so. The Tosevites had to have ships sufficient to repel such attacks. But the most important question was: what if the Tosevites lost? What would happen to his ships and the Race?

Suddenly, the Big Uglies didn't seem so bad after all.

A collective hiss washed over every member of the bridge crew witnessed over a dozen explosive metal bombs go off at one time. No ship could have survived that type of attack! And they were still fighting!

Oh, how he wished he'd never heard of Tosev III or Tosevites, Tau'ri, Humans, Big Uglies, or whatever they called themselves. Nothing was the same now! There were things in the universe that the Race had never known of and were unprepared to deal with. If the Race had been wise as the Race assumed it was, they would have never went exploring beyond their star system. They would have kept quiet and hidden among the vastness of stars. But it was too late now, too late.

"Shiplord, we have a problem! Passive radar has picked up a large number of ships and other ships the size of killercraft are now heading in our direction! First they weren't there and then they were. It is like the Tosevite FTL but initialized in a different manner."

"The Tosevite ship _Hammond_ has just communicated with us. They are launching their own space-capable killer craft and will defend our ships!"

"Prepare to move the ships into closer orbit of Tosev IV. And hurry!" It was already too late. The race ships were glorified transports designed for slow acceleration between stars. It would take nearly an hour just to begin acceleration. The conquest ships wouldn't stand a chance against space-borne killercraft and if they carried explosive metal bombs…! "Pray to every one of our emperor's past that the Tosevites are as mean as they have been claiming since we've arrived at this cursed system," the Shiplord ordered. "They may be the only thing between us and destruction."

Suddenly, radar and communications went blank as the _Hammond_ began jamming local space.

_**CDF **_**Mercury Heracles**_** Squadron **_

The Colonial Battlestar _Heracles and its escort group,_ jumped in with the CDF heavy carrier _Andromeda. _The escort group consisting of the battle cruisers_ Maciste _and_ Ursus_, two _Minoan_-class heavy Battlestars. The _Anthar_ and _Glaucus_ next generation _Columbias,_ provided flanking support. Four light destroyers completed the group. All of the Colonial warships reconfigured their positions enclosing the _Andromeda_ as it launched its Vipers and Raptors.

"Confirmed, Commander. DRADIS picked up enemy transports for a second as they went behind the fourth planet. At least three, about five times the size of a _Mercury_."

Jurgan's let out a small whistle. "They make them big over here don't they?" he said to Colonel. "They're likely military transport or colony ships. They thought they could keep them hidden. Well, they failed. Deny all resources for the enemy."

'Yes, Sir."

Commander Jurgan was livid. The Thirteeners had turned a well-planned simple mission into a charnel house. Friends he had known for thirty years had been killed by these upstart traitors and the entire mission was in jeopardy enough to authorize unlimited use of nukes. The presence of such large transport ships forced him to come to only one conclusion. It had to be part of a prelude to a massive invasion of the Colonies by the Tau'ri. These upstarts were strong, a lot stronger than anticipated even in worse case scenarios. With their ships and the gods- knows-what type of land-based weapons they had, they could conceivably make a thrust into the heart of the Colonial territories, spreading their blasphemous beliefs to the people, his people as they had theirs. No one would hurt his worlds and if that meant turning Earth into a burned-out cinder, so mote it be. The Cylons couldn't do it and neither would this one upstart colony with its perverted weaponry either. This battle was turning into a proactive strike, an action that would be for the betterment of everyone involved.

"Ready launch tubes one through sixteen. Send the coordinates to the squadron. Nuclear payloads, proximity strike firing on my mark."

"DRADIS is being jammed! Possible warship inbound."

All Vipers and Raptors, aggressive nuclear defensive posture. Challenge and destroy any enemy ships."

"Coordinates set?"

"Sir, coordinates set."

"All ships confirmed. Targeting solutions locked."

"By my command-fire."

The _Heracles_ vibrated slightly as all sixteen missiles launched. At the same time, the _Maciste, Ursus,_ _Glaucus_ and _Anthar_ each fired another half dozen each. All forty of them headed towards the ships of the Race.

Bottom of Form

18


	10. Finale and comments

_**To everyone who has read this story, put me on the author's and story's list, a heartfelt thank you. I am blessed that you've enjoyed Worldwar: Discovering the Balance. This marks the end of this story. Originally, I planned to make it a lot shorter than you've read. It was designed to be a serious AU of Bob Regent's RAAB interspersed with lots of amusing scenes, a sort of tongue and cheek variation, with the Race learning that the galaxy wasn't as black and white as they believed it to be. The Race is not evil: stubborn, and set in their ways but an honorable species. Meeting the Tau'ri when Earth was able to handle them comes as a shock that is more traumatic than the world war two timeline. Turtledove's massive series covered at least six books. In comparison this story covers a small fraction of that and the Race characters used have been condensed in their growth and actions. Some of the characters sayings have been repetitive and is purposely done so here, as it is how Turtledove developed his characters in the books. Who am I to dispute that?**_

_**Battlestar Galactica, the 2003 series….I must be careful with what I say about that show. Enough said.**_

_**When I thought about using the Race, Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis slammed me in the face. They would be the perfect foil for the very conservative Lizardians (as I have nicknamed them) without necessarily killing them off. However as you've seen the threat was always there with the SGC. Despite my liking the Race, they had absolutely no compunctions in nuking Earth to ash if it suited their will and if they could get away with it. Earth was a threat to them and the only reason they didn't do it in the series is because they needed the planet for their colonization fleet. However throughout the entire series that was an option for them as they believed it to be necessity of survival against the Tosevite humans. Ah, well. The SGC would have and could have stopped them most effectively. And they had enough experience to keep from wiping Atvar and his people out.**_

_**The Colonials are another problem all together. Enough said.**_

_*******_

_**SpaceCowboy2013: I am glad you liked and has inspired you. The purpose of my writing in the first place was 1) to get my ideas out and 2) to inspire others so that I could read more! When your story comes out, please let me know.**_

Hobobillybob: Great story. I have never read the World War series but after reading this, I am looking forward to it.

_**Read it, 'In the Balance is the first one. Well worth the time.**_

Guardian54: This is the fourth time I've read this whole thing through to Epilogue One, I just noticed does Basestar 117 have to do with Halo and SPARTAN-117?

_**No, it isn't. In fact I'm not fully familiar with Halo as a whole…**_

_**JC: Above and Beyond is good. May make an interesting story. Go for it.**_

_**Worker72: The Asgard were only mentioned in passing at the very beginning – what you call some nameless ship. As in the SG-1 series, they are gone. I would have preferred to have them alive but I kept that with canon. Concerning the Race and the Colonials you will get your wish. The Race has absolutely no warships at all, never needed any as they have never envisioned space warfare. **_

_**heyster1: Thank you. Remember that Bob's story and mine are intertwined in several ways. Of course it helps as he is a Ghost writer to WW as I am to RAAB. So I can see it can be confusing. But I have also went in another direction which is more apparent in this last chapter.**_

_**Reagan: In writing the SG universe I am either very good or very bad-depends. Cain will have an interesting life either here or in RAAB.**_

_**Kell Shock: Me make mistake. Try as we might, stuff gets past us. Sorry. Thanks for pointing it out.**_

Again, thank you everyone. And on with the story.

_**Epilogue part Two**_

The lone Cylon Basestar, watching the encroaching Colonial fleet pause under the hammer blows of the Tau'ri forces, and unwilling to do nothing to defend themselves, went active with what few weapons they had available. The ship moved away from close orbit of the planet but still remained within the protective sphere of the defensive systems the Tau'ri had assured them were there. The Cylons couldn't detect those systems but none of them doubted that they were there, not with the sheer firepower they were seeing being thrown out by these '_other'_ Humans.

They had exactly four nukes left and they'd be hoarded until they could do the most good, or the most evil depending upon who was on the receiving end at the time of launch.

_**Battlestar Pegasus.**_

_**Mercury Class Battlestar**_

"The Cylon ship is reorienting, DRADIS targeting active! Nukes, Sir."

"Target?" shouted Fisk.

"The _Aetos,_ Sir. Launch is imminent. Board is lit up."

The _Aetos, _a small cruiser was cut off from most of the fleet. The other ships in the squadron had either broken off the attack run or had been destroyed, but she had gotten through unscathed with all weapons active and performing what amounted to a suicide mission. The small _Minoan_ was sacrificing everything to get a shot at destroying the Cylon vessel. Behind it was one of the Earther ships bearing down on it fast, unbelievably fast.

"_Aetos_ is firing, all missiles. Missiles free and clear."

"This is _Pegasus_ Actual to second wing, immediate jump. Protect _Aetos_," Cain shouted into the radio. "Wing Five, take down that Cylon ship."

"_Aetos_ has signalled. They're about to jump out in five…four…three…"

Flashes of light appeared from the other side of the battlefield as a second wave of Colonial warships jumped from FTL into the maelstrom. Having already seen what had happened to the first wave of Battlestars and escort ships, the second wave jumping in, concentrated solely on the incoming nuclear missiles and heavy rounds coming from the single Tau'ri ship and the Basestar. Every gun, anti-missile launcher, and Viper sprayed space with wave upon wave of flack taking down the missiles well away from the fleet. Heavy capital fire began to take its toll on the already damaged Basestar. One crippled arm shattered under the impact of a dozen heavy cannon rounds.

Both sides launched salvoes of missiles from their remaining magazines. The dozen remaining Cylon raiders supported by F-302's went after the nukes vectoring in on the Basestar intercepting nuclear missiles and cannon shots as they formed up between the Colonials and the Cylon base ship. Six seconds later seven of the missiles were intercepted and destroyed. Three more were destroyed by the Basestar's defences; one bounced off the _Sun Tzu's_ shields. The final missile glanced off the Sun Tzu's shields and exploded almost on top of the Basestar. Explosions peppered the area, denying the Colonial a quick victorious attack against it, but in the process all of the remaining Raiders were decimated. As a counterpart to this broadside of the behemoths, the faster more powerful F302s had already approached under stealth, all but invisible to DRADIS systems already strained to the limit trying to counter the ECM being thrown out by the Earther ships against the Viper CAPs. The 302s volleyed a full launch of naquada enhanced anti-ship nukes into the lower undefended hulls of the Battlestars and cruisers. The resulting chaos was impressive.

DRADIS command immediately started shouting. "The _Aetos_ is gone; the Earther ship blew it apart before they could jump! There's nothing left. The second wing jumped right into the middle of the Earther's flight path. They're firing nukes point blank at the Tau'ri ship!"

A huge explosion on the port side shook the _Mercury_ to its core.

"Report," Cain growled. Emergency lighting had flickered on just before regular systems kicked back in.

"Some type of super nuke. Took out the _Solaria_ and two escorts. Nothing left."

"Frak!" This wasn't going well and that was an understatement. Even worst case scenarios hadn't prepared them for this nightmare. All across the board, Colonial forces were shrinking far too fast. The Thirteeners had shown all too clearly that they could fight. But they had inadvertently shown the Colonials something else – that they were a major threat. If they continued to resist then more stringent methods would have to be employed. "Get me Admiral Nagala."

"On the phone, Sir."

"Admiral Nagala, the situation is deteriorating. Either we break off the attack, or move to a more offensive position!"

"_Agreed, Cain."_ There was momentary static before communications re-established itself. "…_Be our brethren but they're too dangerous for their own good. There's no choice. Alpha strike on all Earther ships and Earth is authorized. I take personal responsibility for the orders."_

"Sir, as per orders confirmation of these orders is required. Will you confirm those orders?"

"_Orders are confirmed, Admiral. We're taking far too many loses against less than a dozen of the enemy. The gods only know how dangerous they'll be in ten years. If they get organized, they'll make the Cylons look like a stroll in the park. We need to cut the heads of these snakes off now before they become too strong. We break them completely now while we have the chance and pick up the pieces later."_

"Yes, Sir."

***

The Basestar fired the last of its nuclear missiles at a _Columbia_-class warship headed straight for it.

"The Tau'ri stopped the attack on us, the Colonials are falling back!" Caprica Six said. She was coughing. The damaged ventilation system was failing to remove the smoke.

"I was right," Four said with a supreme amount of satisfaction. "They kept their word."

"Good, because we've been hurt badly. We've lost FTL and we're losing life support all over the ship."

"Can it be repaired?" asked Three even thought she knew the answer to the question.

"Not likely," the Six confirmed. "The systems are too badly damaged. How many did we lose?"

"More than half," came a Seven's sober reply. "We have so many wounded that we can't do anything."

"Those Humans out there…they're bleeding for us – strangers," the emotionally damaged Six said in hushed tones. "I would have never believed it. These people really are different, not what I expected." Different or not she still was a long way from trusting them.

"Too much damage-this ship is dead. We have to abandon it."

"Agreed."

And go where?"

"Wait a moment. We're getting a signal from the _Resolution_."

"_We've been monitoring your situation. _ _Outpost One is sending reinforcements. Stand by for transport."_

"Transport? Oh, God!"

"Why are you upset? We used to resurrect all of the time."

"It's not the same thing!"

***

"_Reaper One_ to all squadrons, bug out now."

"_This is Reaper Nine. I've got six Raptors on approach to the Basestar. Radio transmissions from the Cylons say they are carrying nukes," Nine shouted. "They are going in fast, too fast for defences to take down_."

"Kamikaze attacks?"

"_I don't know, boss. I'm going in."_

Four nuclear missiles were launched at a closing enemy warship. At that range, three of the missiles were knocked out. The fourth slammed into the armored ship which kept coming. Its cannons spoke and shells slammed into the Cylon warship which staggered from the blows.

"Ten, Four, Five go with him," Reaper One ordered. The pilot flinched as the space outside of his cockpit flared as hundreds of Vipers and half dozen heavy escorts ships ceased to exist in the massive nuclear blasts. Turning back he saw more and more fighters, hundreds of fighters and Raptors, attempting to swarm them. There were far too many just to destroy the Basestar. They were trying for Earth orbit. From there they could launch nukes. "SGC this is Reaper one, we need some serious back up over here."

"_This is the SGC, All 302s pull back to Earth orbit immediately."_

"_Fine for them to say,"_ Three's voice came over the radio.

"Stow that, Three," One ordered while dodging a trail of fire that intersected with another 302 to his rear. The Earth fighter disintegrated as explosive rounds shredded the fuselage.

"All Reapers pull out, head for the Cylon ship. Let's take some heat off them."

"_This is Hades Squadron, we're with you Reapers." _

The incredibly fast Earth built fighters outstripped the still re-orienting Vipers, missiles and gunfire unable to lock onto the evading stealth fighters.

"Nice timing, Hades Lead. We need to take down those Raptors before they get into range."

"_All part of the service, Reaper One. Hades flight two Hellfire. Fox five."_

Affirmatives came from the four aircraft as they in turn spun in place lining up their targets. From the internal bays a larger than usual missile was dropped its rocket engine igniting sending it careening towards the Raptors at a speed far beyond that of anything on the battlefield. Only seconds later an entire area in front of the fighters erupted in light as the missiles loosed a number of smaller missiles into the rears of the Raptors. The tiny naquada warheads wiped out the entire Raptor squadron, throwing the Viper escort out of position.

"What the…what was that?!" a pilot shouted.

"Zip it. We've got Vipers to kill. We'll figure it out later. All Reapers form up with Hades."

The _Sun Tzu_ added its weight to the overall destruction, blowing off the port bay of the _Columbia_. The ship visibly buckled and began an uncontrolled tumble towards the planet. Explosions continued to tear the doomed ship apart as tylium and weapons stores consumed the ship. The _Toshkan_ was right behind her sister, adding its weight to the fight. The small ship used its single energy weapon to eviscerate a small escort. In response several of the larger Battlestars tried their best to blow the _Daedalus_-class ship into its component parts.

Stung badly, the Colonials backed off, trying to reform.

_**Pegasus:**_

"Redeploy the remaining reserve squadrons against those Earth fighters, then bring in the second wave onto our flank," Cain ordered. "We have to break through these ships and make orbit. Alpha strike has been authorized. All ships push forward. We're bigger. Let's make use of that! All destroyers pull in close to the Battlestars, cruisers take point."

Admiral, Commander Cunningham's Squadron's prepared to use their missiles."

"Excellent, tell him to fire when ready."

Cunningham's ships carried enough of the specialized, heavy hitting, long ranged missiles that could conceivably render half the planet uninhabitable for decades. Once half of their major population centres were removed, the Tau'ri would have to give up. There was no way they'd want a second strike and all of this butchery would be over. They weren't that insane as to continue fighting. O'Neill and his ilk would pay for the all of the destruction she was force to witness and implement. It was all their faults for resisting unification. There were too many human planets out there threatened by the Goa'uld, to waste time and resources on the Thirteeners. They should have just followed the dictates of the Quorum, but no, they just had to do this the hard way. "By order of Nagala, he is to target population and industrial centers."

"Yes, Sir."

_**Outpost One: Antarctica, Earth**_

"…_Advise when all fighters are out of the immediate combat zone."_

"Roger that Outpost One." The _Apollo_ swing around just in time to intercept over a dozen nukes vectoring in on her position. Her beam weapons and point defences made a mockery of the attack. Ten ships and several squadrons had held the Colonial attack fleet at bay; however this was a situation of quantity over quality. There were too many of them even though that number was steadily shrinking. Several dozen Raptors and two missile carriers supported by at least two of the mammoth _Mercury_-class Battlestars have just slipped past initial Tau'ri defences and have a clear path to the planet.

"_This is Outpost one, hold onto something people, this is gonna get messy." _

Jack O'Neill's voice came from the wideband communications suite at the SGC. "Commence primary ignition." He had so wanted to say that for a long, long time…

_**Mars:**_

Shiplord Kirel had firmly decided that war was not at all righteous when the creatures you were supposed to conquer shot back at you. A swarm of missiles with explosive metal warheads were vectoring towards his ships at a speed that consumed the distance between them and him with appalling rapidity. The vessels under his temporary command had no defenses at all against this type attack. Indeed they had no defensive capabilities whatsoever as the ships' designers had no idea that something like this could have possibly happened. The lumbering transports of the Race weren't built for speed. At maximum efficiency the ships would achieve fifty kilometres per second in approximately two hours, far too long with those missiles closing in…in…

"How long before the missiles intercept us," he practically screamed.

"Fifteen seconds, Shiplord," came the panicked response from the senior Radar controller. "There is much interference directed by the Tau'ri ship _Hammond_ against the missiles and their enemies. They may be trying to somehow interfere with the guidance systems." Senior Radar specialist Nrahla almost jumped out of his seat as his radar screen showed the _Hammond_ placing itself between the forty missiles trying to destroy them and the ships of the Race. "Emperors past, present and future be praised!" he yelled as the _Hammond's_ powerful weapons array began sweeping missiles from space.

Missiles from the Tau'ri ship hatched from their berths and exploded, destroying even more of the cursed death dealing things hurtling towards them. Eight of their space capable killercraft helped to destroy the missiles coming to kill them. The senior radar specialist was again surprised by the speed and the efficiency that their weapons had destroying the missiles. The computers they had had to be extremely advanced, and far faster than the ones the Race currently had.

Two of those missiles were intercepted by the _Hammond_ itself and at the point of contact the radar screen went blank for a moment. The Earth ship protecting them had been hit! "No! We are doomed!"

"Emperor save us!" hissed Kirel as he rushed or rather floated over to see the radar images for himself. If they were to die, then as Shiplord he would face death as leader, not cowering in a corner as missiles came to obliterate the ship. Somewhat hysterically he realized that conquering other races wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Again his ear pads were assailed by the Senior Radar specialist.

"By the Emperor, it still exists! How is this possible?"

Kirel silence was his answer. He had no idea how the Tosevite creatures had survive. He was only too glad that they were still alive and hoped with all of his liver that they would continue to remain so.

***

Seventy-three Vipers and Raptors broke close formation and spread out, advancing cautiously towards the fourth planet. The missile strike, as impressive as it was, had been intercepted by one Earther ship and a few fighters which said a whole lot about the enemy they were about to engage. The fighter-bomber screen each packed two seven kiloton nuclear missiles with orders to destroy the transport ships that had escaped the missile strike. Evidently they were extremely valuable as the Tau'ri vessel had sacrificed itself to save whatever cargo the ships, or so it was originally thought

The _Heracles, Maciste_ and _Anthar_ were forming a protective sphere around the _Andromeda_, with the _Glaucus_ and _Ursus_ took point.

Jamming had increased enough that DRADIS was having a very difficult time cutting through the interference. They knew the Earth ship was heading directly at them, but the Tau'ri fighters were nearly impossible to see through the countermeasures set up by the enemy. Two Vipers were running point in front of the squadrons watching for an enemy they couldn't quite see.

Captain Howard Antoninio was lead Viper pilot was a seasoned veteran of the Colonial-Cylon battles at Cymaedas IV and Cystus III. Those had been brutal affairs. Although outnumbered and not prepared, the Cylons had fought with a viciousness few had anticipated. Three entire battlestar squadrons had been completely wiped out, but finally the main fleet was able to make it through the first wave of defenders. The toasters had thrown everything they had against the combined Fifth, Sixth and Eighth fleets. Almost a thousand raiders of all configurations had risen up to protect the Cylon's home world. They were so thick you would think that you could have tiptoed on their topsides all the way to the Basestars they were protecting. And the secret base next to a collapsed black star had cost the lives of eighteen thousand warriors and four of the most powerful Battlestars ever made. Those battles had taken five days to win, but win they did. The CDF had prevailed and were the stronger for it. But if they were stronger then why were they having so much difficulty with less than a dozen ships smaller than frigates supported by just a few squadrons of fighters filled with pilots that had so obviously not had much training in space fighter tactics? One hour and the entire offensive reeled against inferior numbers of defenders. "This is Xuthus One to Xuthus Fifteen and Sixteen, sitrep."

"_Xuthus Sixten, Beginning our run, missiles active and seeking."_

"Hurry up and get out of there."

"_Yes, Sir. Absolutely, Sir. Beginning acceleration." _The two forward Vipers began their attack runs using the gravity of the planet to increase their acceleration dramatically. By the time of release, the missiles would hit their targets at close to a fourth of the speed of light. "_Short range and acquisition DRADIS is picking up three targets. Confirming missile lock..."_

Those were the last thing heard from either ship's pilot.

Xuthus One's DRADIS threat board went crazy for all of a second, showing dozens of missiles heading right for his command, panicking the leader who instinctively began evasive. The threat system went back to normal as if nothing had happened. Other than friendlies, there was nothing there, absolutely nothing, which could not be correct since they knew that there was Earther warship in the immediate area very likely hiding behind the fourth planet protecting the transports and waiting to ambush them.

"_This is Raptor Sigrich DRADIS command,"_ said a nervous Commander Janestan. As the senior intercept command ship assigned to defensive traffic control and threat evaluation, her Raptors DRADIS threat board twice as powerful as the other Raptor systems had picked up something and then simply lost the signal. "_We picked a signal for a second, then it disappeared. Did anyone notice anything? We're still getting a lot of interference out here."_ The heavily modified Raptor acting as a mobile command center had also detected a big signal and then the whole thing vanished.

"Confirmed," said Antoninio. "There was something, thought it was a glitch." Two other Vipers and four Raptors had reported seeing the same thing.

Years ago, his father had told him something that he'd never forgotten. 'There's no such thing as coincidence in the heat of war.'

The squadrons of Colonial ships were starting their orbital burn retracing the path of the two now silent Vipers. "All ships, be on alert. Something's wrong. They have to…"

The Captain's DRADIS system went ballistic. There were missiles, a lot of them heading directly for his command. The screen was filled with incoming. He frantically went evasive while screaming for his wingmen to do the same. This time his threat board picked up radiologics interspersed with conventionals almost on top of him and his people! Somewhere in his mind he understood that the Earthers had some type of stealth system built into their missiles that made it very hard to detect them until they were almost on top of their targets. In other words, DRADIS was screwed.

Vipers immediately began to fire their weapons, desperately trying to destroy the incoming as quickly as possible. Several missiles were destroyed. Several others, the ones leading the pack exploded prematurely.

DRADIS systems went down, overloaded by whatever particles had been dispersed by those missiles. The effect only lasted four seconds, but Viper and Raptor pilots, unable to use their threat DRADIS now, and knowing that their lives were in immediate danger from missiles they knew were coming but couldn't see panicked.

"Break, break, break!" Captain Antoninio screamed into the mike even as he kicked in his afterburners in a vector that he prayed would keep him from getting killed. Gees caused by acceleration slammed into his gut as he vectored on his Z axis at full burn. There were only glimpses but he did imagine seeing his fellow pilots turning to fireballs. Something that had to be a nuke exploded a hundred kilometers from where he had been a few seconds earlier. Turning once more, he was facing the _Glaucus _about fifty kilometers distant. His expression grim he and a few other Viper pilots stared for the moment at the action.

The pocket Battlestar was being attacked by one of the small Thirteener frigates. _Ursus_ was spinning wildly as its engines continued their burn. Half of the ship was missing from its midsection forward. Explosions were tearing that ship apart. The frigate had already passed the doomed ship and was firing at the _Glaucus_ using some type of explosive shells. There was a collective moment of fear as two ten kiloton nukes failed to even slow it down while it returned fire with impunity.

The entirety of the_ Glaucus_ rocked from the explosions as the entire port armour shredded like paper under the onslaught. The comms were alive with screams for help which rapidly turned into high pitched shrieks while the command center began burning. To his horror, the shrieks quieted quickly as the ship went the way of the _Ursus_.

His own threat board started screaming, forcing him to focus on another missile attack. There were several explosions as several Vipers were hit. He didn't have time to mourn. He was too busy trying find out the source of the second attack. The missiles were originating from beyond his visual range. Another flash, different this time signalling the arrival of yet another of the Thirteener frigates. His heart shrank as this new ship went after the _Andar_. The _Maciste_ swung around firing everything in support of its sister ship while the _Heracles_ locked on and tried to skewer the first ship with support from the _Andromeda_.

The entire combat group was in jeopardy and the worst thing was that Captain Antoninio was unable to help. The remains of the Viper contingent were being wiped out by what had to be enemy fighters they couldn't even see. Unfortunately his attention lapsed for a second. The threat board screamed and he slammed the yoke starboard just missing a missile. A black and silver fighter almost Cylon-like in appearance flew right past him. DRADIS barely saw it.

"_Sigrich DRADIS command. We have six, repeat six fighters on top of us! _Janestan was screaming into the mike. "Missiles everywhere! ECM is negative. Repeat ECM is ineffective! All Raptors…ghaah!"

Antoninio dodged fire one of the Tau'ri fighters while several Raptors took missiles from three different directions. "Xuthus squadron, form up and pick your targets. Stay together!"

Gunning his Viper, he barely got into range of one of the fighters. Three of his surviving wingmen were right with him when he fired on the Tau'ri. "Missed!"

The Tau'ri were terrible space fliers but what they lacked in experience the made up in speed and power. He had missed but _Xuthus sixteen_ had stitched the target nicely. The fighter had barely been scratched. It swung around with its wingmate coming in for an attack. Instantly, Antoninio went defensive - again. Two of his own wing mates died moments later as their Vipers and pilots were turned into unidentified shrapnel.

"By the gods," he said. "By the gods!" They were using lasers or something so close that it made no difference! Viper and Raptor light weapons barely scratched those ships. They used energy weapons just like their bigger ships! He never really believed in the gods but in those seconds he realized that he had just discovered religion.

They were all going to die in this ill-advised mission to save the Thirteenth colony. What a joke.

_**CDF Heracles **_

The entire command and Control center rumbled from that last hit by the Earther ship protecting the freighters hiding behind the fourth planet. Alarm systems were screaming, announcing horrific damage to the port side. The port hanger deck had been nearly sheared away from the first scraping run despite the _Mercury_ class vessel throwing up enough defensive flack to stop attacks from two Cylon base stars in their tracks. The powerful Battlestar defences had done absolutely nothing to stop the energy weapons used by the thrice-cursed Earther ship.

Commander Jurgan was intense pain. His left arm was broken in two places, a result of bouncing against the far wall. Other crewmembers had been hurt worse with several of them on the deck. Some of them would never get up again. A second Earther ship had engaged the remaining members of the CDF and he grimaced at the battle screen. Their survival was in serious doubt, a fact that was confirmed a moment later as the _Machiste_ exploded. He wasn't expecting the _Andar_ to do much better. The _Heracles_ was the only thing between the Colonial carrier and eternity. "All nukes fire on that sip-ship," he hissed through the pain. "Fire everything at it. Keep it from the _Andromeda_. Tell her to jump now. Doesn't matter where! Prepare to jump on my mark!"

"We may blow up, Tyllium tank sixteen is ruptured."

"Initiating jump in twenty seconds. Feeding coordinates to jump computer."

"Commander…"

Everyone's eyes turned towards the battle screen. The _Andromeda_ initiated a jump at the exact same moment one of the Earther beams made contact. The familiar jump distortion flashed, but only half of the carrier made the transition. The other half remained, destroying itself in a series of titanic explosions all of which made the destruction of the _Andar_ by the other enemy ship barely noticeable. Both enemy ships were now vectoring towards the _Heracles _whose survival could now be measured in seconds.

Seconds was too optimistic a word. There was a momentary stab of guilt that he was giving an order that would effectively leave the Vipers at the mercy of the now much hated thirteenth tribe but there was no choice. Both enemy ships were firing their weapons. "Initiate jump now, now, now!"

The damaged _Heracles'_ FTL flashed and the ship was elsewhere an instant before three plasma beams touched it.

***

Captain Antoninio witnessed the entire battle between fighting for his life. The Battlestars were gone, destroyed by the Tau'ri. The badly damaged _Heracles_ jumped as far as he could tell. That left about a dozen functional Raptors and Vipers left. Dozens more were damaged his people dying. With no support there was nothing he could do and no way to make it back to the fleet action near Earth, not past those monsters. His fight was over. They could only hope that the Thirteeners would be merciful.

"All ships, stand down. Try to signal the Tau'ri ships." The bile in his mouth was almost unbearable. "Let them know we surrender."

***

_Atlantia_ squadron, under command of Commander Frank Cunningham had made it to strike range. The fleet of twelve ships had been badly mauled by the Earther defenses. Four had survived the gauntlet to make it to strike range. The _Atlantia _was damaged beyond repair. The FTL engines were gone and the ship threatened to destroy itself at any moment.

"All tubes ready for deployment," his second-in-command yelled. "Ripple fire on your mark."

Twelve missiles were targeted for the largest cities located on the planet. At fifty miles, the city killers would deploy four nukes each to saturate everything in and around target

Frank wasted no time giving the order. "All ships fire!"

All twelve missiles were launched inside of seven seconds. Cunningham's squadron then locked on to the _Condorcet_ in a desperate bid to stay alive long enough to jump to safety.

_**CDF Zeus:**_

Admiral, All DRADIS are reporting what seems to be some kind of column of light emitting from the surface of the planet, near one of the poles."

"Any kind of reading? Is it nuclear?"

"Negative, Sir. It's heading into space at a high speed. It's barely readable on the DRADIS, but its moving, wait – its changing course, destabilising, breaking up. Oh Gods, it's not one column, Sir! It's thousands of small missiles heading for the second wave coming in fast! Some are heading for the Alpha strike and the others… They're headed straight for us!"

'_They keep coming up with something new',_ thought Nagala. He couldn't win, not like this, with most of the ships destroyed and this new menace. "Order all ships to return fire take down those missiles before they hit our ships!" Whether the missile their targets or not, he knew it was time to order a strategic retreat and rethink this whole debacle over. Too many of his people had died already. "All ships, make ready to jump."

The wave of ancient drones leapt into the remaining ships of the Colonial's second wave, the two Earth warships and dozens of Tau'ri fighters standing off to the side simply watching. Vipers and raptors just ceased to exist as they were covered over by the streams of tiny projectiles. What was left of _Alantia_ squadron's cruisers, destroyers and the last remaining Battlestars trying to support him, set up wave after wave of massed projectile fire. Flak and auto-cannon fire streamed out of weapons ports, meeting the drones as they came in clustered together, a seemingly easy target for the Colonial defences. Their defenses did nothing to slow down the things swarming towards them.

_**Pegasus:**_

"What in the Gods Name are they?" Cain shouted.

Shock and fear reigned through the CICs of both groups of ships as the counter fire failed to knock down even a single drone. The main fleet could only watch and stare dumbfounded as the second wave exploded into shrapnel one after the other. Destroyers and Vipers attempting to escape couldn't evade the inevitable and died en masse. The accursed things seemed to penetrate ships and then blow up. Some of them simply went through the ships armor tearing it apart and coming out the other side unscathed!

"What were they!? All ships begin the retreat immediately. I want the remaining escorts to form up and jump when clear. Battlestars to screening positions, cover the other ships as they jump. Move it!"

Some of the glowing projectiles had turned and tracked the nuclear missiles launched by Cunningham's now dead squadron. They caught the missiles easily and just as easily, those missiles cease to exist. The drones turned and headed back towards the main column.

Four more signals disappeared from the DRADIS console as the Colonials tried to pull away from the attack. A Battlestar fell next as two missiles at close range from the Tau'ri found the holes in its defences detonating against the rear and fore simultaneously. The _Mercury_ was immolated in dual massive fireballs, debris flying away from the explosion out into space. The surviving ships manoeuvred around the partially melted metals which was all that remained of the once proud Battlestar. Two of them disappeared in FTL flashes and were gone.

Drones impacted with the slowing Colonial ships slipping through the heavy defensive fire coming at them from point blank range. Unfazed by the thick armour and heavy fire, hundreds of the million year old weapons blasted the second wave apart piece by piece. Within moments the entire group was gone blown apart from the inside out. Ships, fighters, crews, and pilots, everything was simply wiped from existence in only seconds.

"Zeus has been hit by a nuke. She vent atmosphere! She jumped!"

"Thank the gods," Cain muttered. Now it was their turn.

The _Pegasus,_ retreating now, was forced to watch as ship after ship was annihilated by the Tau'ri ships, the massive force Cain had arrived with was down to barely a quarter of its number with ships dropping every few seconds. One of the last of the intact Battlestars exploded as the _Prometheus'_ cannon impacted it in several places along the flank. Holes appeared through both sides breaking the back of what was left of the Colonial ship, sending it tumbling.

One other Battlestar was encompassed in beams of white light emitted from the Tau'ri ship that caused the Battlestar drift out of control. The communications teams were unable to make contact with its crew. More than a dozen ships from both groups had undergone this same treatment. Cain didn't have a clue as to what was happening and had no inclination to find out.

"Sir, the destroyers are signaling FTL jumps imminent. Six ships gone, others following in five, four..."

The Comms officer was interrupted by the Battlestar was literally thrown to the side sent spinning on its axis against its own momentum. The crew were sent flying into displays, doors, walls, consoles and other crewmen. All across the ship alarms blared as decompression and critical damage forced airtight doors and permanent seals to crash down throughout the vessel.

"Report." Cain shouted.

"We've got critical damage to the rear sections, we've lost comms to the engine rooms, several of the main computer relays and all weapons are down. Tau'ri ship coming straight for us."

"Prepare for emergency jump. How many ships have, we got out there left?"

"None."

"What?" Fisk demanded.

The Comms officer whispered. "We're the only surviving Battlestar left. The _Zeus_ and the escorts just jumped before those things or the Tau'ri could kill them. The marine transports have jumped."

"Get us clear. Emergency Jump. NOW."

"Jumping in three, two, one."

The final surviving warship of the Colonial Attack fleet flashed out of existence its FTL engines sending it hurtling away into the depths of space away from the incoming Tau'ri warships. Beams of plasma energy passedg through the area it had occupied an instant before.

For both sides the battle for Earth had finally ceased.

**_Resolution:_**

The bridge was totally silent for the first time that day. The _Daedalus_ class vessel had been forced to lead an unready and inexperienced force against a massively superior force in numbers and experience and had come out the other side with minimal losses and no appreciable damage to their side or the world below them. It had been a whitewash against the Colonials. The more advanced technologies garnered from Stargate Command had allowed them to defend the threat to Earth within mere hours. In other words the 'Door to Heaven' more than made up to the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on it.

_Odyssey _sat in the middle of what could only be described as a graveyard, dozens of ships off all kinds, unexploded ammunition, flash frozen bodies, clouds of particles that had once been fuselages and hull plating. The few unexploded nuclear weapons that had missed either side were being tracked and shut down from range by the _Daedalus_ class vessels.

The blessed silence was interrupted by the Communications officer. "Sir, conformation from all ships, the entire colonial fleet has been neutralised. Final count of seven escort class ships have escaped as did the _Pegasus_. Six more are deemed salvageable, the rest are gone along with the majority of the crews."

"How many have we picked up?"

"A few hundred. A wing of Vipers were also picked up in close orbit of Mars. Looks like they picked up signals from the Race ships and tried to take them out."

"What about our losses?"

"Unconfirmed but it was pretty bad for the 302s when the second wave attacked. We've lost maybe a third of all squadrons. But most of the pilots have been picked up or at least found, quite a few Viper pilots were EVA as well. The _Prometheus_and _Odyssey_are scanning the area for any other survivors but are not hopeful."

"Very well, take us down to condition three. I don't think we've got much if anything to worry about, the Colonials will think long and hard about trying anything like this again. Orders are to get the Race ships and our people to Home II as soon as possible."

"They're probably scared to death."

The Colonel's response: "Yes. Welcome to the galaxy at large. Speaking of which, General O'Neill has informed me that _Atlantis_ will be delayed a couple of days. No need to let the Colonials or the Race in on that little secret."

"I thought the _Lemuria_ was coming instead?"

"No, she stays in the Pegasus galaxy." Typically his half smirk had a grimness to it that no one could mistake as friendly. When that little surprise was sprung, the Goa'uld were going to wish they'd never heard of Earth.

_**CDF Heracles: **_

The massive Battlestar flashed into normal space eight light-years from the Tau'ri home system into the middle of empty space which was, as far as the survivor were concerned, a blessing.

Commander Jurgan could barely stand as shooting pains from his broken arm threatened to push him into unconsciousness. "Are we clear? Is DRADIS clear!?"

"DRADIS is clear," one of the lieutenants responded. "No ships detected in the area."

There were no Vipers or Raptors left to provide cover. All of them had been lost, every single one and they were still far to close to those Tau'ri devils. "Initiate emergency repairs. Get the leak under control." Medical personnel were flooding the bridge now. One of them had Jurgan propped up at his command. "I want a status update within the hour."

_**Pegasus:**_

Almost twenty light years away the _Pegasus_ reappeared, its emergency FTL discharging them into the inner system of a close by star. The rear of the vessel was still glowing red from the close nuclear detonation that had stripped the vessel of half of its sublight engines and a number of rear compartments, ragged and half melted armour punctuating the loss of a full fifth of the warship's mass.

"Jump complete," Hoshi shouted. "We're clear of the Tau'ri Solar system."

"Position," Cain ordered."

"Just where we're supposed to be. Seventeen light years from our previous position, emergency co-ordinates worked, Sir."

"Any of our ships make it this far?"

Plans spinning through her mind Cain stared in concentration at the DRADIS screens, the range had been unaffected by the attack but the resolution had been reduced by the overloads and nuclear burst that had hit the _Pegasus_. The six signals closest to the ship had begun moving towards the Battlestar taking flanking positions,

"Reading twelve ships in the area. All have Colonial transponders. The Warstar, her escort, and destroyers, Sir."

"That's a mixed blessing at the least," Fisk replied. "We'll need them to tow us in when to get back." He looked to his seething Commander. "Admiral, your orders?"

She shot a look at him. "Contact Nagala. Find out his status. We'll have to pool our resources and then get home."

Nagala looked strained. The losses were starting to press on him. _ "We return home or at least as far as we can. We'll need a tender or drydock to take us all the way back. I'm not going to risk leading the Tau'ri to our mid-range stations. The transports will let tem know what happened and they'll know what to do if there is no communication from us within the next day and a half."_

"Aye, Sir."

Turning to the other staff within the CIC Fisk shouted out orders to assemble the other ships into formation. Crewmen moved sluggishly and wearily and neither Cain nor Fisk could blame them. The entire fleet had been wiped out in a little more than an hour – an hour! – That was something that hadn't happened even during the greatest battles in the Second Cylon War. They were being forced to flee from a planet that by all logic should have surrendered or been defeated with ease.

***

"It should have been enough to pacify one little planet."

Nagala took a long drink of Ambrosia. Earth was off limits to the Colonials until they could assemble a larger more powerful force. The ships sent barely scratched a hundred or so and were outfitted for a different enemy. The _Mercuries_ of the fleet were aging and were not as powerful as the newer _Pacifica_ and prototype _Themis_-class Battlestars would be. Something two or three times the size involving the bigger ships of the fleet would be necessary to take down the Tau'ri. And taken down they would be. They had proven to be too much of a threat and had to be controlled when the Colonials went after the Goa'uld. Humanity had to be united and if the Thirteenth colony had o be crushed in order to achieve that goal, then by the gods' will, so be it.

_**Heracles- Three days later:**_

"Course plotted," Lieutenant Galton responded. "Jump sequence is in fifteen seconds."

The Battlestar had undergone emergency repairs as quickly as the crew could manage. Every second's delay meant that the Tau'ri could find them and every single man and woman knew that if they were found by the Thirteeners, their lives would be forfeit. The FTL engines had been repaired and patched as much as possible but still needed to be tested. Their test destination was a star four light years away. If they didn't blow up first then they'd likely make it home or fairly close to it.

"Initiate jump!"

The Colonial ship winked out, only to appear an instant later in the system of Tau Ceti. Instantly the comms were assaulted by hundreds of individual signals. DRADIS was seeing dozens of vessels and at least two stations of some sort orbiting some unidentified planet. Two vessels were heading towards them from out system on an accidental intercept course. At their speed they were hours away from visual. They were huge and ponderous with a configuration never before seen by the Colonials. Nevertheless, the Colonials were apprehensive.

"Vessels closing in, still nothing on IFF."

"Any recognition signals of any kind?"

"Negative, it's not Colonial, Tau'ri, or Cylon," replied the Comms officer. "The ships are big at least as big as the _Mercury_ but… I'm reading very, very low nuclear power readings, most likely a power source and no weapons at all. Shall I signal them?"

"Negative. They don't know we're here and I am not announcing myself. DRADIS can't identify them?"

"No, Sir. However, they have some superficial resemblance to those transports we saw hiding behind the Thirteeners' fourth planet. But less than a thirty percent match."

"Close enough," the Commander snapped. "I want a marine heavy transport to intercept one of those ships and get me prisoners. The more we know about the Tau'ri, the better. Next time we hit them, we'll be ready."

Prepare to tight beam jam the signals of both ships. We don't want the stations and the others to know we're here."

"Yes, Sir."

***

A dozen high explosive rounds pierced the hull of the closest Race vessel, a transport ship on its last legs of a fifteen year journey from the star system Epsilon Indi from the planet called Halless Twoon its wayto Home. The shells stitched the ship ploughing deep into the interior. As huge as the ship was it was delicate and the warheads designed to penetrate Cylon armored ships detonated blowing holes throughout the ship sending crewmembers and debris spinning into space. Gouts of flame expanded within the confines of the hull, setting fire to the escaping atmosphere, killing the few remaining crew that had survived the impacts and original detonations.

Onboard the second ship, the Lizardian command crew were barely aware of the destruction of their sister ship when something slammed into their own bulkheads. Communications were completely jammed and alarms hissed loudly as explosive decompression rocked the ship.

Space-suited Colonial marines burned through the hatches and came face-to-face with their first real aliens. The members of the race saw large things in space environmental suits and panicked. The Marines saw them running away and shot several of them as they fled. The slaughter continued until the captain ordered his men to stand down. He reported his findings to a stunned Jurgan.

"Aliens?"

"_Yes, Sir. No people, just these lizards and some other kind of alien. Most of them are in some kind of freezer compartments. Probably some type of cryostat units. _

"Like our old timer ships. Long distance travelling without FTL."

"_Yes, Sir. They're lizard like, short and ugly. Reminds me of some of the lizard we have in our deserts."_

'_So our first contact with real aliens and we shot them'_. "How many are alive?"

"_About thirty not frozen, probably crew and mechanics."_

"Take'em and stuff 'em on the transport. Grab as much data and info as you can carry and bring it back with you. We need to know what their relationship is with the Tau'ri. You are authorized to place a small nuke next to their power plant. I don't want these things to know what happened here. Make sure there's nothing left of either ship. Get back here ASAP. We jump for home as soon as you arrive."

"_Yes, Sir." _

"Lieutenant Galton, place our prisoners in isolation as soon as they arrive and have them checked out. I don't want some alien disease killing us all before we make it home."

"Already being prepared, Commander." He stopped and turned to Jurgan. "What if they've never been contacted by the Tau'ri?"

"Then we've just made history with first contact," he said indifferently. "I really don't care. The Tau'ri have to know about them. They're only twelve light years from Earth. If they don't, then too bad. Command will certainly want to know about these lizard things. Who knows, they may be useful. We'll probably get a bonus for this." _'If we're not all court-martialled that is'_ he thought. Somebody's going to get blamed for the Tau'ri fiasco.

An hour later, the _Heracles_ made its first of seven jumps for the Colonies. The damaged transport exploded taking the remains of the second ship with it. When the Race sent a ship to find out what happened two months later, there was nothing but small pieces of shrapnel left to examine. The Race never discovered the exact cause of the loss of those transports in the years to follow.

_**Home II:**_

Fleetlords Atvar and Ruffet basked in a rare moment of peace between the two of them. The light of the twin moons shimmered across the black sands. The evening was hot, the sands almost sizzling and the intense heat felt good to both of the members of the Race. In front of them stood the Star portal, looking dark and foreboding, but at the same time holding the keys to eternity.

"At first I thought that all Tosevites looked alike," Fleetlord Ruffet said. "But after looking at the Tosevite Cylons, I find that they really do look alike, so much so that I am almost able to pick out the differences between the Tosev Tosevites. I wish that they would remove their clothing so that I could tell the male for females. It would make life much easier for me. I tried to order them to do so and replace their strips of cloth with proper paint but the ugly creatures ignored me! How dare they?"

Fleetlord Atvar laughed.

"Oh how I wish that our colonization plans for Tosev III could have been completed properly. This world is not Tosev III but I will admit that I am satisfied with this new colony world, although I am not please by the way we acquired it," Ruffet said. "The circumstances have left a sweet bitter taste on my tongue receptors."

Atvar repressed a sigh. This argument had continued since he and the Fleetlord of the colonization fleet had met. "The Tosevites would not have allowed the colonization fleet to land on Tosev Three," he explained once more. "The conquest fleet would have been destroyed. The entire program would have failed. Instead, the spirits of the Emperors past have granted us this planet." At the mention of the Emperors past again both Lizardians showed respect.

"But…"

"But," Atvar repeated. "Home is not a radioactive rock in space. We are alive."

"At their sufferance."

"The Tosevites or Tau'ri as they preferred to be called, may be dangerous neighbours but they are neighbours, one we can not ignore. There is danger out there," he said pointing to the unknown stars above them. "The Tau'ri have warred against an unknown enemy and we have seen frightening evidence of this. They may be dangerous neighbours but I am convinced that they do not intentionally wish us harm."

"But they have harmed us in ways I can not even begin to comprehend, Ruffet countered. "They have made us look at ourselves and we are weakened by our observations. How can we remain what we were? Their presence ruins everything. They are like the stars above. I do not recognize any of them. Instead of holding comfort, they hold uncertainty."

"I agree. I can not disagree with your words. These events have opened our eye-turrets. We can not hide within our egg shells as we would like. We must force ourselves to face the future."

"But the future is uncertain. There is no stability, too much has changed."

"I fear that, too. But there were other things that I feared even more than that. The colonists will come here in a month to make a life and the males of a soldier's time who are here will welcome them. We will make a home here so far sway from home. We will make sure that the Tosevites and the Tosevite Cylons will be treated with respect while they remain on Home II."

"But we will not be in control," the male answered not liking the words. "We will have to treat the savages as equals."

"These 'savages' gave us Home II when they could have destroyed us," Atvar countered. "They are our equals and more. We will honor them and in turn they will honor us. And we will get to know one another. The Emperor has isolated Home from the rest of the Tau'ri until a decision is made. The communications satellite, by order of the Emperor, will be used only to relay data concerning the development of the colony and how our relationship proceeds. Those messages will serve to help the Emperor formulate suitable response to these Tosevites. We have no choice but to obey." He focused on the 'stargate' as the Tosevite called it. "I do not believe that it will be that bad."

"How do you know?"

Atvar had no answer to that.

"And what about that thing?" Ruffet asked point at the stargate. "When will we know about that?"

Atvar laughed. "When the Emperor tells us it is time to."

There was nothing more to be said for now. Both lizardians lowered their eye-turrets and went their own way. There was a lot of work to do before the ships landed on their new home.

FIN

American Tau'ri spaceships

1. _DAEDALUS_  
2. _Prometheus_ (upgraded with Asgard tech)  
3. _Odyssey _(Daedalus class) at Home of the Race  
4. _Ajax _(Prometheus class) heading to Pegasus on standard run.  
5. _Phoenix_ (Daedalus class) at Pegasus permanent station  
6. _Apollo_ (Daedalus class) deep space mission tracking Goa'uld  
7. H_ammond_ (Daedalus class newly commissioned) With Race col fleet  
8._ Achilles_ (Daedalus class) with Hammond with Race's Col fleet

Russian  
9. _Korolev_ (Daedalus class) at Pegasus permanent station  
10. _Bedovy_ (Prometheus II)

English  
11. _Thunderer _Prometheus I scheduled to be upgraded.  
12. _Resolution_ (Prometheus II class) tracking Goa'uld ships

Chinese  
13_. Sun Tzu _(Prometheus class first Chinese built ship  
14. _Toshkan_: a Prometheus design but more missile oriented ship. Just starting tests.

French  
15. _Bonvet_ (Prometheus class) stealth at colonial systems  
16. F _Condorcet_ (Daedalus class)


End file.
